Day 4 - Sharjah and Desert Safari

Another early start to the day, we hopped on the bus at 8am to head over to Sharjah, the land of museums (seriously there are 15).  We started out at the Sharjah Heritage Museum. Our tour guide walked us through the various aspects of the Emirati lifestyle, such as life in the desert, birthing rituals, childcare, medical practices, wedding ceremonies, and funeral customs. The gallery culminated with a video depicting the story of an Emirati girl who selflessly gave her life to find water for her sister. 

During the visit one of our members who donned (or should I say tried to don) the traditional thobe for the visit was informed he was, in fact, wearing the undergarment section of the thobe on his head. Thankfully, due to the generosity of our tour guide, this was quickly rectified!

We then had some free time to enjoy the rest of the Sharjah area. Being the fun-loving group that we are, some played on the swings and seesaw outside of the museum.

Then we took off to explore the area. First up, and of particular torment to me, was the bird and animal market (I’m terrified of birds). Lucky for me, this was just a quick stop before the Sharjah Souks and then lunch.

By about 1pm, or a little later thanks to those who broke off to get their names written in calligraphy, we began our journey back to the hotel. The latecomers were let off with some light booing on the ride back probably because we were all a little jealous we didn’t get our names written in calligraphy, or at least I was.

After our break, we headed out on our way to a desert safari, complete with dinner, camel rides, dune racing, and henna tattoos (this one was just for the girls).  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves there!