Dubai A city of world’s firsts

The tiny emirate combines Arabic tradition with stunning modernity; a catalogue of the world’s firsts, writes MIKE OMUODO

Blending East and West, Dubai literally stuns a traveller with its fascinating kaleidoscope of colour and contrasts. A leading centre of business and tourism in the Middle East, this economic heart of the United Arab Emirates(UAE), offers visitors the exotic past wrapped in a modern package of fashionable malls, glass skyscrapers, the world’s tallest building and multi-lane highways.

As well, it has become the distribution centre of modern technology in the Middle East and beyond.

Dubai combines a 21st century aura with the unique charm, mystery and hospitality of traditional Arabia.  Two million inhabitants, a mixture of almost every nationality under the sun, live in a dynamic and expanding ultra-modern urban centre, defusing an air of oriental splendour. This eastern lure, plus its tourist facilities, oozing with modern comfort and conveniences, have made Dubai a mecca of sorts for an ever-increasing number of vacationers from all over the world. 

The city presents an exciting world of activity and delights like the superb sport and other recreation facilities from golf to water sports, ice-rinks, desert safaris, dhow cruises and beaches — clean, safe and un-crowded — awaits the often surprised traveller.  When one tires of the new, there are the recreated Heritage and Diving Villages with an excellent world-class museum and renovated old homes, topped by wind towers — ancient symbols of UAE.

Just in decades

Many visitors in their wildest dreams will not visualise that, only a few decades ago, this bustling 21st Century city was only an adobe town surrounded by endless desert.  Like the computer game SimCity, Dubai went from a sleepy, desert outpost to a thriving metropolis in barely a decade. Dubai is now home to world’s largest and breath-taking landmarks: From Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building to Dubai Mall, the world’s largest mall to Palm Jumeirah an artificial Island chain to Burj Al Arab-Hotel that put Dubai on the map. 

GREAT MARVELs

Dubai is definitely an architect’s paradise! I just had the pleasure of visiting the world’s tallest building: Burj Khalifa in Dubai. I walked over to this amazing tower from the Dubai Mall and it is impossible to not be impressed by the enormous 828 metre tall building—almost 200 metres taller than its nearest, Tokyo Skytree in  Japan which is 634 metres tall.

Unlike Wright’s design to which it bears a startling resemblance, Burj Khalifa is very real — all one hundred and sixty stories. For decades, skyscrapers have been topping each other in only small increments: Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers  (1,482feet) are 32 feet taller than Chicago’s Sears Tower (or Willis Tower, as it is now called); the Shanghai World Financial Centre is about 130 feet taller than the Petronas Towers; Taipei 101, in Taiwan, is 50 feet taller than the Shanghai tower; and so on. But the Burj Khalifa represents a quantum leap over these midgets.

Talk of a mega city and Dubai fits the bill. My guide confides that a plan is already underway to put up even a taller building in Dubai, almost twice as tall as Burj Khalifa.   

Quite possibly the most iconic building in Dubai, the Burj Al Arab, at 1,050 feet high, is the second tallest building in the world to be solely used as a hotel after the Rose Tower, also in Dubai, which stands at 1,090 feet. The Burj Al Arab stands on one of Dubai’s man-made island and is known most for its unusual shape, which purposefully resembles the sail of a boat.

Shoppers  paradise

Dubai is one of the world’s foremost shopping centres. The city has pitched itself as something of a shopper’s paradise in recent years, and has options for all budgets. Whether it is the glittering shopping malls like the world’s biggest shopping mall, Dubai Mall, stocked with top designer clothes, or the exotic old souks, browsing is a pleasure.

Over the past 16 years, the city annually emphasises its trading attributes by hosting its Dubai Shopping Festival, which happens during January and February each year, and Dubai Summer Surprise, which occurs during June and July each year.

Both Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprise are colourful marketplace of shopping opportunities, cultural activities and great entertainment. For a whole month, hotel rack rates usually drop by half and reductions are offered across a vast range of products, from jewellery to fashion wear, electrical goods and carpets. Dotted amid Dubai’s attractive shopping outlets are a good number of lush-green parks and, on the outskirts, newly greenfield areas. The city also offers world-class hotels featuring nightlife, and fine eating places presenting the foods of the world.

 romantic Arabia

For tourists, enjoying the many charms that the city has to offer, poses no problem.  Dubai, in fact the whole of the United Arabs Emirates, is generally safe, English is spoken everywhere and organised tour operators offer excursions, enabling visitors to savour Dubai’s charms in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

At the top of these tours, offered to all parts of the UAE, are the popular desert safaris.  Almost every traveller to this country takes at least one trip to the desert for a taste of romantic Arabia. Camel riding, dune driving, wadi bashing and desert feasts under the stars while being entertained, are some of the tours offered to tourists for relishing in comfort the majesty and magic of the sands.

More appealing to some are the various Dubai Creek Tours offered by traditional wooden Arab dhows.  By day, most of the city’s major landmarks can be appreciated as the dhow slowly glides on both sides of the Creek, which divides the old town from the new. At night, visitors can relax and enjoy the city’s colourful lights as they sip a cool drink, followed by a gourmet meal, enlivened by the music and singing of the East.

For those who are looking for sport activities, besides having available every water sport under the sun, tour operators can make arrangements for playing at one of the three attractive world-class golf clubs or attending horse racing at one of two of Dubai’s racecourses. For something exotic, camel racing held in the nearby desert tracks or, at times, donkey racing held in the nearby Emirate of Ajman, are on the agenda. 

Winter in the Desert

So who said you can’t ski in the desert? Typically you can’t but if you are in the Dubai desert, you can certainly ski all year around.  If you are looking for an activity in Dubai that is not only a lot of fun, but very unique then you should take your family over to Ski Dubai located in the Mall of the Emirates.

It is the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East and is quite the thrill for people who think that Dubai is just a bunch of sand and hot weather.  With over 22,500 square meters covered with snow all year round, you can ski, snowboard, or even take the family tobogganing.

This place has something for everyone no matter whether you are a beginner or an experienced skier. 

Ski Dubai has five ski runs that vary in difficulty and height with the longest run at 400 meters. There is also a Freestyle Zone that allows you to practice your snowboarding stunts nearby as well.

Getting there 

 Dubai is an international air transport hub easily accessible from any part of the world. The main airline flying to Dubai out of Nairobi is Emirates Airline, which offers 14 flights weekly.   The airline has played a crucial role in the developing of Dubai as a tourist and shopping destination.

  In a nutshell, here’s what you can do in Dubai in 48 hours: stand at the top of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa; roast in 48 degrees Centigrade heat; snowboard in -5 degrees Centigrade; get stuck in a four-wheel drive on the edge of a sand dune; ride a camel in a desert camp; swim laps around an Olympic sized pool; get lost in the world’s largest mall; and see several of the world’s most luxurious and most expensive hotels.