What better way to spend my last day of this two week trip than to go kayaking? – Yes, in the United Arab Emirates.
This outing was in stark contrast to my 4x4 Dune Bashing trip and has been captured on my Kayaking & Canoeing Google Map. In addition to hitting the dunes last night, I also visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque yesterday. Coupling that with the fact that I got up up at 5:30am to make this float on time (got to go when the tides let you!!), well... let's just say I was tired and this was the toughest Canoes & Kayaks float I have been on in a very long time. The sweltering heat MIGHT have played into it, too! 
If you are trying to visualize how the Mangrove National Park fits into the middle of a million-person city that is also in the desert, maybe the satellite picture below can help.
A treat indeed for the population and an unexpected one for me when I was trying to line up activities for my copious free time. There was plenty of boiling hot sun from above for our 7am start time and I was glad to see the welcome sign only after a few minutes of paddling.
If you look closely through the smog & desert sand haze, you can make out one of Abu Dhabi's urban ranges of skyscrapers.
Nothing wrong with this wide-open paddling, but we came to get into the narrow water trails through the mangroves and we got a good dose of it thanks to scheduling this trip at high tide.
We all bunched up in a very narrow section for a little bit of education about the mangroves from our guide.
Dang, I really love getting out on the water in a kayak!!!!
We finally finished our water trail route and emptied back out into the more open area and got to (barely) see the distant buildings again and well as eventually seeing our welcome sign (this time in Arabic) before heading pack to where we started.
A big shout out to the folks at the Noukhada Adventure Company who I'm sure could help anyone out with water-based activities in Abu Dhabi.
As for me... this is the THIRD continent I've been lucky to go out paddling on. Hmmm... maybe time to start planning some more far-flung kayaking trips?
With my two weeks of training wrapping up in Abu Dhabi it was time to get out in a 4x4 and do some DUNE BASHING! We headed out of town for about an hour and as that Wikipedia article suggested, we stopped for a short break while our expert driver lowered the PSI on our tires down quite a bit. It was a welcome break to stretch our legs and we got to meet a new friend, too.
Then it was time to get out there in our little caravan of three Toyota Land Cruisers.
This was hands-down the most fun I had on my whole trip. I could NOT stop smiling and laughing. Most of the time we were leaning, at least, 45 degrees to one side or another.
Here are a few videos that help you see what this was like from the passenger side.
I realized I was getting a bit sick watching the little screen on my camera, so I was happy when our caravan stopped for a bit. I must admit I was quite impressed at how well these luxury Land Cruisers held there own out there on the dunes. Of course, the drivers (ours was the lead driver!) had excellent skills out there. Our driver has been doing this for nine years!! He felt so natural.
He was nice enough to take a few photos of me out on the sands as well. Thankfully, he is a better driver than photographer as everyone knows to NOT take a picture of the sun! Of course, it does give me an "interesting" halo of sorts.
The real beauty was the desert itself!! Man... it has been a looooooooooooooong time since i was out in 'The Suck' during Desert Shield/Storm way back in 1990-1991. It was sure nice to have AC in these vehicles and I don't remember those HMMWV's having that option installed!! 
And for those of you who think nothing grows in the desert – I see TWO little trees out there!!
We boarded the Land Cruisers again and did some more dune bashing. If you get the chance – do this!! SO MUCH FUN!!!! We eventually headed into "camp" for dinner (no "entertainment" due to it still being Ramadan) where I took a bunch a pictures of this magnificent falcon.
Speaking of natural beauty, I was blessed at this sight just before the sun went down. The desert is harsh, but has its on special beauty.
I wanted to share some photos I took earlier today of the very beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque here in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
It really was a beautiful structure to see. I only wish I could visit it at night when I hear it is even more impressive.
I left Abu Dhabi behind for a day trip over to Dubai with the gem of the trip getting to go up to the observation deck of the tallest building in the world! Dubai is about 87 miles away from Abu Dhabi and there really is not anything to see between these two massive cities – well, unless you like sand! As I rolled into town, it was clear that Dubai has had a massive influx of building over the years as the following video illustrates.
The crazy looking circular land mass that surfaces is called Palm Jumeirah and we drove out onto it and the outer-most point reaching to the sea is the Atlantis, The Palm resort.
In front of Atlantis is the Arabian Gulf and this beautiful share of blue. The shoreline spans for over 12 miles on this outer band of The Palm. What an engineering feat – one that I really don't want to know the price tag for!!
It is really hard to show what this looks like from ground level, so check out the aerial view right after the little picture I took of one of the beaches.
Another icon not to miss is the Berj Al Arab!!
I'm going to star in the new movie – Baywatch: UAE. Dubai has over 1400 mosques and the Jumeirah Mosque is one of the most accessible and is open to non-Muslims.
Again, 1400+ mosques and most are simply incredible looking. Here are some worth seeing if you visit Dubai. Here is another one!
As I said at the beginning of this post (and yes, the title gives it away) the main attraction for the day was Berj Khalifa, so we started heading over that way and you can see that massive spire from far away. It sticks out like a sore thumb! It is the TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD!!
It is connected to the Dubai Mall which itself is no small thing either. It is the largest mall in the world with over 1200 stores.
As soon as you go in this entrance you are hit square in the face with a giant aquarium and I think we all know I love saltwater aquariums.
Damn! I AM HANDSOME!!
I finally got to the entrance and splurged for the ticket that takes you all the way up to the 148th floor (555 meters up) instead of the less expensive option to go up to the 124th floor's observation deck. I'm so glad I did as those 24 floors are just that much higher and hey... this is the tallest building in the world and I'm on the other side of the world – gotta go for FULL bragging rights!! Besides, there are no crowds up on this VIP level and as you can see, the building still goes up to floor 163 and spire is even higher than that topping out at 828 meters. That's just over a half of a mile into the sky!
So... let me just end this post with a few photos I took from this insane observation deck. I really loved it up there!
As Fran Tarkenton used to say, That's Incredible!
I was able to visit Louvre Abu Dhabi: The BILLION Dollar Museum right after I arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but since then I have been teaching each day of the Sunday through Thursday work week they practice out this way. Today, I had the chance to get out on the water courtesy of the good folks at The Yellow Boats who have a 90 minute tour to see Abu Dhabi from water level. I made it to the marina and met up with Capt. Dan and our RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat).
After we got all loaded up and out into the Arabian Gulf, I had this view looking back on the harbor where you could really see the smog of Abu Dhabi.
First sight was the UAE Presidential Palace that is nearing completion.
I think I remember Capt. Dan saying they have already spend over $5 billion on this massive complex!! As you can see in that last picture, we then saw some of the newer, more Dubai-ish looking, skyscrapers. Again, notice the heavy smog.
When pushed on and went under the "Bridge to Nowhere" (what it might be going to someday), saw more wild architecture, and viewed many gigantic waterfront homes owned by rich sheikhs of the UAE.
We were event greeted by some humpback dolphins although the only picture I was able to capture was not all that good.
We then saw, from a distance & from two different points along the way, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which I am looking forward to seeing up close and personal before I leave Abu Dhabi.
That took us to near our turnaround point on this out-and-back boat trip; the Al Maqta Tower.
Capt. Dan took ANOTHER one of his fun sharp turns and we started heading back to where we started from.
Unfortunately, we had a failure with one of our two engines on the way back and had to putter with the remaining engine at less than 50% power the rest of the way. Needless to say, that powerful sun in our faces was taking its toll. Fortunately, we got to take a few more photos of the skyscrapers and the the iconic Atlantis hotel as we got closer to the harbor.
Finally, I present a shot of the Emirates Palace that the marina belongs to.
