27 Nov 2021
Our tour guide was Mansoor. He arrived to the hotel 1 hour earlier than planned and informed me it was due to the sun setting earlier. However, we didn’t do anything significant around the time the sun was setting. He never offered sand boarding to us; we saw another group doing it and asked if it was in our package. It definitely was. He then pushed one of the group members down the hill before her feet were fully braced. He spent the entirety of this trip on his phone or conversing with other guides. Due to texting and driving, he was constantly swerving on the roadways. He never explained what would be happening next. He would just stop and instruct us to get out. His lack of communication and nonchalant attitude really dampened this tour. At the camp he handed us off to someone else to sell us things. He didn’t take us back either. He had a “nephew” do it. I’ve been on this desert trip multiple times, and this was by far my worst experience. I would never recommend anyone having him as a tour guide.
The VIP area of the camp has better food & service. The 6 of us paid 50Aed extra to sit there.