23 Apr 2024
Quad: you all have to go in one line, can not make turns, can not go 30cm out of the line, you have to be exactly 6m apart from each other no more no less. When you don't do this, when they think you are like 10cm too much forward or backwards or out of the line, they stop you, yell at you, and behave aggressively. The going is super slow, like walking. You try to go faster, they yell at you and cross your way aggressively and dangerously. In the meantime, all the "guides", photo people, and local children (like 10 years old) are racing around and across the line of tourists, super fast, having a lot of fun, and even laughing at the tourists, that they can not do this, just the super lame and slow one line. It's a joke, a very very bad one. It's making up ridiculous rules and then making fun of the tourists while the tourists can not enjoy anything of it.
The quads are also in bad condition, they constantly stop by themselves, you need to restart the engine over and over again, etc
Even like that the quad part is extremely short. 10 mins quad, 15 minutes pause (for what??) then another 5-10 mins quad and that was it.
Then the exact same with the buggy/spider car, only even shorter, like half the time. People did not want to stop for photo, everyone wanted to keep going and also enjoy the ride, but they did not allow this. They did not allow anything.
Oh and yeah, it really does not matter what package / agency / company / guide you book, as ALL GROUPS are taken to the very same place, where the "desert camp" guys take over and control everything.
Thus no chance whatsoever to have an adventurous or even enjoyable experience. Shame :(
My advice is to just avoid this whole type of activity/excursion.
The program schedule is constructed with tons of time waiting at the "camp" while nothing is happening (so that you buy some drinks at skyrocketing prices). The whole active part could be done in less than half the time.
11:20 announced pickup time
--???--
12:00 actual pickup time
12:50 arrive at the "camp"
--nothing happens, waiting in the camp, sitting at the bar--
13:40 quad starts
13:53 we stop for what???
14:07 quad continues
14:17 quad finish
--nothing happens, waiting in the camp, sitting at the bar--
14:35 buggy starts
14:41 we stop for what???
14:50 buggy continues
14:55 buggy finish
--nothing happens, waiting in the camp, sitting at the bar--
15:20 jeep ride starts to "beduin village" (fake)
15:55 arriving to beduin village where:
-literally 2 minutes camel ride
-2minutes fake bread making
-optional visit to animals of desert museum for extra money
-everyone getting a micro mug of "beduin" tea, served by a fake-beduin (one of the "guides" putting on a burnous for the 3 minutes of serving)
-for about 40 minutes --nothing happens-- while they approach everyone one by one to sell the photos for 20 dollars extra per person
17:10 start going back from beduin village to base camp, where
-dinner is very little, it's not a buffet but they portion the food for you, and they refuse if you ask for more
-dance show is like 15 mins max
just dont go. save yourself the disappointment, frustration & money.
no matter how much research you make to find the "best" tour/company, unfortunately they are all the same.