07 Jan 2023
Unprofessional | Uninformative | Sand Dunning
Unprofessional - The driver/proprietor was unprofessional. 36 hours prior to our pick-up time, I received an email from the Viator App saying the contractor reached out. The message said, "send me a message on WhatsApp." I sent the message asking what he needed to say/ask. He told me that he would pick me up at 3 pm. I explained the package I purchased said the desert safari started at 2 pm. He said - NO the tour starts at 3 pm. I had a flight to catch later that night - Therefore, we had to leave the safari's last phase 20-30 minutes early, to ensure we got out of the traffic, and to make our flight.
Uninformative - We thought we would learn about the Bedouin culture throughout the 6-hour journey. We learned nothing. Despite our group asking a variety of questions, our guide either refused to answer or didn't know which was disappointing. Additionally, there were two stops where nothing was free but, our guide didn't warn us. For example, my wife and I took a camel ride that we thought was free because the package included a camel ride - but we were incorrect. After our camel ride variety of men screamed at us, and told us we had to pay 100 AED. We talked them down to 50 AED because we did not know.
Sand Dunning - The only reason this trip received 2 stars is that the Sand Dunning was pretty phenomenal. The driver was super talented and we had a great time. Additionally, the sandboarding was a ton of fun.
Pro Tip - Budget out 7 hours for the trip. We had traffic going into the camp and coming out of the camp. Therefore, the 6 hours is underestimated.