clog blog: Atlantis, The Lost City

Tuesday, 28 December 2010

Atlantis, The Lost City

After a very average flight, Justin & Bronwen arrived safely in Dubai at 5:30am local time today! Yay! We are officially on our way =)

Thanks to everyone who called, smsd or emailed to wish us well on our trip, it was very much appreciated! Thanks also to Bren and Kirst for dropping us off at the airport, you guys rock! Yesterday was a very weird day since it didn't feel real that we were leaving, even once we were standing at the gate waiting to board the plane. Hoping it will sink it soon that we don't have return air tickets! A highlight at the airport was seeing Kath & Julian and having an opportunity to say goodbye. Enjoy the skiiing in Austria guys!!

In general, passport control is not a favourite part of any journey, and this time, especially not in an Arab country! After much confusion and having to have an eye scan, we finally made it through passport control and customs.

First impressions of Dubai are it is very clean with a lot of construction still on the go everywhere. It is a very cosmopolitan city with a lot of Indians, both holiday makers and workers, Germans, French and Australians. We also heard the odd South African accent which made us feel at home =) Taxi's and public transport are also relatively cheap and easy to use. The people are also very friendly here, except for passport control of course ;~) Although it is winter in Dubai, today was a pleasant 25C with a slight breeze. Winter here feels very much like winter in Johannesburg except that it is much warmer. But the air has the same dry, browny feel; not like the brilliant blue skies of Cape Town. At the moment, Dubai is 2 hours ahead of Johannesburg and 4 hours ahead of London.

We are staying at the Golden Sands hotel not far from the airport. Our room is pretty basic but since we will only be sleeping and showering there it doesn't bother us too much. After checking in, we made our way to the Atlantis hotel at Palm Jumeirah, about a 30 min drive from the hotel. Most of the day was spent exploring the Aquaventure theme park and enjoying the many water rides. Our faves were 'The Rapids', in which you go down a series of gentle rapids in a 600m circuit of the park in a plastic raft-type tube and 'The Plunge' in which you rapidly go through a series of twists and turns in a closed water tube in the dark!! Other rides we tried out where 'The Leap of Faith', the pic below will explain why it is so called, and 'The Shark Attack' which includes a stretch of closed water tube in the middle of the shark tank. Bron screamed so much today and swallowed so much water only time will tell if it was safe or not! All in all was a very kewl experience and comes highly recommended.

Also at Atlantis is 'The Lost Chambers' which is basically an aquarium styled in the theme of the lost city of Atlantis. The decor is a bit out there but kewl if you enjoy that sort of thing. They have a lot of different and interesting fish and seem to be going for the very unnusual items. The aquarium was kewl but maybe not as good value for money as Aquaventure and we prefer the Cape Town and Durban aquariums more. Local is Lekker =)

Another highlight of today was our inagural Starbucks snack! Haven't had the coffe yet, but enjoyed a sandwich and muffin. There will be plenty more time to experiment in London & Europe.

Right now it is bed time! After roughly 3 hours sleep in the last two very busy days we are feeling somewhat bushed. But we will be up bright and early to hit the ski slopes at the Emirates Mall. Other items on the agenda in the next two days are exploring the souks and a dune safari. But more about those next time!

Until then, sleep tight!