Summer Kick-Off, Road Trip to the Liwa Oasis

Summer is on the sandy horizon and for a Pacific Northwest girl that means one thing, Road Trip! Problem 1) My international driver’s license is not valid in the UAE…go figure? Problem 2) In an Islam nation alcohol is prohibited for purchase unless an alcohol license is obtained, which I am working on. But come on, a road trip without a cold beer at the end? Problem 3) Arab taxi drivers are hit and miss when it comes to things like speed limits, air conditioning and hands-off their passengers policies. I had just about given up on my day dream of cruising independently down one of the UAE’s sand swept highways, dotted with camel farms and trust funds riding around on quad bikes. But that’s what friends are for, to hold you to all of your daydreams. And that is just what my friends did, took me on my best summer road trip yet. We drove through the Al-Gharbia desert to the Liwa Oasis, home to one of the world’s largest sand dunes and none of your typical roadside blueberry stands.

Liwa is a special place to Emirates nationals as it is the birthplace of the Al-Nahyan and Maktoum tribes, now the ruling families of Abu-Dhabi and Dubai. Just outside Liwa City, off of the main highway is Moreeb Hill, standing at a neck cranking 300m tall. Teenagers gather at the base of this sloping sand dune at the annual Liwa International Festival held in February to participate in and witness sand boarding, car racing, falconry, camel racing and other traditionally Emirati sports.

Typical of any road trip are roadside attractions, and in the UAE, few desert farmers have taken inspiration from Tom Robbins’ classic novel. Instead roadside camel farms make up for their lack of whimsy with raw desert appeal. We stopped to take a peek at one of the more remote farms, situated in the valley created by two sloping dunes. The farmer, a man from Pakistan named Samir motioned for us to get out of our car and come see his heard of single humped camels. Samir’s home is a one room shack built from parts resembling pieces fallen off of the large water trucks that cross the desert. It boasted a “sun deck” with a lawn chair perfectly positioned to receive the 120 F rays on a typical Arabian afternoon. Samir showed us his camels, their babies and a few straggler chickens who had taken shade under a water trough. Deprived of any female attention, our host took a particular liking to me, and we left before taking a camel ride with the groping farmer.

The UAE is as polarized as one nation can be, with its development rocketing toward a Jetson aged utopia, and a vast desert harboring traditions and secrets of a near past. It is only when I return to my home in Abu Dhabi’s Western region, hours from a skyscraper, that I watch a country’s landscape move back in time. There exists a fleeting glimpse of what the geography of this land once was, and is predicted to disappear in favor of steel and glass, laying in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa. But for now visitors to the UAE get a rare look at past and future of a developing nation, by simply embarking on a weekend road trip.