NGS have this trick that just when the going gets tough (about now), they take you to some fabulous resort for a couple of days of luxury. Well this was the day. We traveled on the bus for a couple of hours and arrived at the Al Maha Resort. Apart from being a luxury hotel, it is a nature reserve populated by Arabian Oryx, Gazelles and other interesting animals. It was clear as we drove through the sand dunes to get there that this would be a very special place. We were escorted to our rooms, individual bungalows with your own private pool. This was our room, overlooking a spectacular view of the sand dunes and desert.
In the late afternoon we piled into 4X4's for a safari of the nature reserve. As safari's go this was quite tame but a great distraction from the trauma of earlier today. We had just arrived on a new planet and it was nice.
In Africa, Gazelles are usually snacks for lions so they herd for protection (see the McDonalds sign on their rear end). Here they are protected so they wander freely on their own.
We had a group dinner that evening. Definitely not DRY this time.