#REPOST
I must say one of the greatest perks of being a twin is that you can be
effortlessly enjoined in a plot with her friends and feel no shame….that is me J. My twin sister Gertrude and her chama mates Anne, Sophie, Janet
and Lillian planned to visit Dubai to mark turining 40 years!
Plans rolled out in
January and payments made early in the year. The Sunday of August 10
arrived…..and finally we were airborne to Dubai. Must say we got a great
deal….Return flights and airport transfers, 6 nights BB accommodation, Tour of
Dubai and Dhow cruise dinner, desert trail and BBQ dinner….all for a very
considerate price a piece! Much as we tried, we could not tell where the profit
margins came from!!
Anyways, we arrived through Sharjah airport since we used Air Arabia. Small
hitch on arrival…the airport transfer happened after one hour of frantic phone
calls….the hotel we were booked in was situated in a predominantly Indian
area….Fortune Grand hotel….not bad…good wifi (10 points for this as we all are
wired by internet)…..exhausted we slept and woke up early Monday morning to
enjoy the experience that Dubai was to offer. In the group, some had been to
Dubai, but none as tourists, but for business (which translates to knowing the
inside of one hotel, one mall for a limited period and airport only!).
Monday was day for Dubai tour,… that was nice….we drove round the main streets
of old and new Dubai with a tour guide who sang praises for His Highness,
Sheikh (could not catch the full very long name). Gist is that he is a generous
fellow and has ensured the “Dubains” are in comfort. What was apparent was the
effort to make the city green…we were told that the soil is imported and that
the smaller shrubs are uprooted and new ones planted every three months, while
the bigger ones are replaced yearly…aii that one sounded doubtful….but who
knows? When cash is no problem…anything is possible!! She also mentioned that
Dubai didn’t have a single 7 start hotel - that the first one in Dubai is under
construction (we all thought that one that looks like a Dhow was 7 star – Dr
Google says that it’s not a star rating they have embraced…so, there you have
it!) It was great to see Palm Jumeira via an overhead tram…that is one
megaproject – the land was reclaimed from the
sea and is shaped like palm leaves – magnificent to say the very least!…..That
evening was dinner at the creek on a dhow…quite nice…mainly Eqyptian, even the
dance performance…interesting and strange to some level given the puppets they
used J
Tuesday was for the desert trail. Since it was starting in the afternoon, we
did quick visit to the Emirates mall and headed on to the desert in a
landcruiser that came for us. The driver, Abdul was pleasant, told us he came
from Oman, that he has been at it for several years, that he is teaching his 10
year old son the skill of desert driving and that he sometimes brings his
mother but she gets so scared of the ride up and down the dunes. The ride was
quite something, so many cars! And the hot sand!!...anyways, we got several
chances for great photo ops and moved on to the site where the BBQ dinner was
to be served. Must say that was quite a sizeable crowd for a loose Tuesday
evening!! Dinner was great, and we watched a similar Egyptian dance, but with
additional belly dancers.
The rest of the week was not scheduled…so it was malls, malls and more malls
(retail therapy at its very best)….we discovered the metro train and attempted
to visit all the major malls, Emirates, Dragon Mart (by taxi), Dubai mall,
Deira City mall etc; even managed to bump into Hon Joho in one of the malls and
gave him a loud greeting J. For some reason the dancing
fountain at the Dubai mall simply blew me away….mesmerizing to the least! I can
watch it again and again….we had a vantage point from one of the restaurants
overlooking the man-made lake that has been fitted with the fountain….and right
next is the grand Burj Khalifa…..tallest building in the world (like 8 KICCs
stacked up on each other!!!)….we could not miss taking photos next to it!!
My personal favourite was the Gold
Souk…..rows and rows; and more rows of shops selling gold and silver…..my oh
my….I was in gold heaven….the prices are regulated so moving from shop to shop
is about looking for a design that you fancy, not so much for best price. And
West Africans were many….mpaka attendant asks you whether you want the price in
Naira!!...no security checks here….everywhere is safe….my kid sis was right,
the gold wizard cast a spell on me and can’t be found to unlock me from this
spell….I had to get myself a piece …. priceless!
One thing often came up – that when will Kenya open up / develop like Dubai??
Vision 3020 or nearer?? Yaani, God is great…making plans in January and
actually everything goes as planned….tunashukuru! Anyways, all great things
have a beginning and an end….and Saturday morning came faster than we
thought…..back to Nairobi….Girls, you the best….may the next phase of our lives
be filled with the love and laughter
from family and friends, be blessed, be surrounded by uncommon favour and ever
more glorious….FOREVER YOUNG!
