Tucked away in the northern corner of the UAE, Ras-al-Khaimah is an emirate that is often overlooked by tourists, although the government is busy rectifying that by pitching it as the adventure hotspot… Continue reading
Jazirat al-Hamra or Red Island, now part of the mainland, was once a peninsula that, with high tide, became a small island just off the coast of Ras-al-Khaimah. The inhabitants made their living… Continue reading
Wadi Sur, the largest man-made feature known in Ras-al-Khaimah, starts at the foot of the hill on which Sheba’s Palace was built, and runs for 7 kilometres in a straight line to Ras-al-Khaimah’s creek. It… Continue reading
Ras-al-Khaimah, in the not too distant past, had the largest expanse of date palm gardens in the UAE. Even though most of these gardens contained a house, not many have survived. These houses were either… Continue reading
The low moan of the wind disrupted my pre-dawn slumber. We were meant to go for a drive to Wadi Ghalilah, but as I looked out the window I saw white caps on the… Continue reading
“Wadi Koob” the sign reads. “I wonder what is there”, I muse. It is not often that these signs guide one to the actual place it so proudly announces. Silence follows my remark as we drive… Continue reading
On my daily walks along the promenade, I have witnessed the slow transformation of an empty space into a beautiful Italian Restaurant called Pesto. As I realised that the end of winter was… Continue reading
The transition from traveling to the familiar daily routines of life sometimes take a bit longer than expected. My first two days back home felt surreal, but as the days passed, I slowly… Continue reading
Visiting the National Museum in RAK is not a very exciting experience when one is simply focusing on the exhibits. Although artefacts that were discovered in the area are housed here, and as a result, capture… Continue reading
Rain in the United Arab Emirates is, needless to say, scarce. Even when the clouds look full of promise, or one is lucky enough to see lightning and hear thunder, it does not… Continue reading
Seeing that Michael was all “rock-ed out”, there were no excursions in the mountains for me this weekend. We did venture out into the beautiful warm winter’s day though, to discover and delight in… Continue reading
On Saturday morning my poor husband got dragged out of bed again for a pre-dawn excursion. This time he had to take me to Dhayah Fort, just north of RAK. We arrived before first light and had… Continue reading
Sheba’s Palace, sometimes also called Zenobia’s Palace, actually has nothing to do with either one of these queens. They certainly were powerful and although rumour would like them to have visited here,… Continue reading
During the past month there was a steady build-up to the UAE celebrating its 40th National Day on December 2nd with regular fireworks, cultural events and a variety of processions both on and off the water. The… Continue reading
Yes it is true: “I love winter!” Not that I ever thought I’ll utter those words. When I think of winter the first word that comes to mind is “cold”. To that list… Continue reading
