I got a little distracted in my blogs from my Africa trip in 2012.

I have written extensively on my blog about this trip which I had really wanted to do for a long time.

At the end of the trip with visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. And yes, it’s not officially Africa, but it’s not that far from where we were, and when you’ve flown there from North America, it’s basically in the same neighbourhood.

It really was quite an experience. It’s fun to revisit these photos right now. With much of the world in social distancing as we try and deal with the CoVID 19 virus, air travel, especially international air travel has been severely restricted. I do feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy our odyssey to Africa while international air travel seemed quite safe, and normal.

The one word I can think to describe Dubai was… “hot”. It was really hot while we were there, but we were always near water so it was quite tolerable.

Dubai is an exceptional place; an amazing city with spectacular architecture, in a desert.  The skyline is dominated by Burj Khalifa which at 830 metres (almost a kilometre high!) is the tallest building in the world.

Burj Khalifa and Dubai skyline John Wordsworth

Here is a view of Burj Khalifa we snapped on the way to the hotel.

There are also artificial islands just offshore shaped like palm leaves. Our hotel was near one of these on the Persian Gulf. The beach was beautiful, and the cabana kept the temperature tolerable.

view from the cabana Dubai John Wordsworth

cabana on beach Dubai John Wordsworth

Dubai is noted for its malls and shopping. We did some shopping, but spent more time relaxing by the pool or the gulf. The hotel and grounds were beautiful, and all the more amazing knowing all this green was created in a desert.

Dubai hotel lobby John Wordsworth 

This was the hotel lobby.

Hotel grounds Dubai John Wordsworth 

A walk through the grounds of the hotel.

terrace restaurant Dubai John Wordsworth

The view of the outside restaurant.

beside the pool Dubai John Wordsworth

hotel pool Dubai John Wordsworth

The pool was beautiful.

We didn’t mind some down time at this lovely resort to recharge because we’d been traveling for a long time.  This was a nice reprieve before our final flight home.