Platinum Safari Overnight Desert Camp

Platinum Safari Adventures had been on my bucket list radar well before I moved to Bahrain so when Dubai went from a “one day” kind of goal to a long weekend reality I started planning.

Upon arrival we were each given a metal keepsake water bottle to refill throughout the experience, a cute little land rover bag and a headscarf. From what I’ve found, this is the only company that uses the vintage 1950s Land Rovers which we thought were super cute.

This is my best friend and travel buddy, Leah, she flew all the way from Seattle!

We drove into the dunes of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, spotting animals like the Arabian Oryx and stopping for a sunset falcon show. I forgot my camera battery which killed me…if there was ever a most instagramable ME ultimate experience then this is probably it.

At the Bedouin style camp, we were greeted with Arabic coffee and given a tour of the area. There were women live cooking special breads and tending the fire for soup and several types of meats to include camel. Dinner was done family style with our friends from earlier that day. The food was amazing, especially after a long day. We didn’t want to love the taste of camel but the meat was tender and delicious and we were more than stuffed by the time dinner ended. Afterwards Leah and I rode camels, played music, smoked shisha, got henna and drank tea.

We were the only two guests to stay overnight at camp. The property is run almost entirely on solar energy and once everyone else left the guides shut off power while we all smoked shisha under the stars.

The moon was so bright that there was no need for flashlights and little Arabian sand gazelles wandered into the now peaceful camp.

This was one of my favorite & most unique experiences in the Middle East thus far and very different from the utopia that is Dubai. I would recommend doing it at least once for anyone out here because it sheds light on a lot of culture that is easy to overlook.

Crazy German man shooting fire pictured above.

Leah had reservations about the hot air balloon, of course I assured her it would be a tranquil experience to watch the sun rise over the expansive desert…and it was! However, she would kick my ass if I fail to mention the looney tune German man piloting our balloon who was screaming from lift off to the “controlled” crash landing- 10/10 scarier than skydiving!!!!

Once safely back on the ground we were driven in vans to the camp for a full Arabic breakfast buffet. During this time there was the option of more camel riding for those who were only doing the sunrise balloon package but Leah and I spent this time packing our things and getting ready for the next day ahead.