The Desert Diva If you follow the Desert Diva on social media you might already have heard that after a year away in Oman, Marina has returned to the UAE – at least until Spring 2018!
Oman didn’t work out for a number of reasons; we had not planned on renewing our UAE Freezone Company License, but to retain residency in the Gulf we did last May. All our future plans are focused on the next renewal date and making the winter season 2017/2018 successful enough to justify Marina returning for autumn/winter/spring 2018/2019.
It’s not going to be easy. Since the dramatic fall in the price of oil a couple of years back, all the Gulf countries have been trying to restructure their revenue streams and due to this there are a lot of changes in the expat demographic. Our customer base has shrunk significantly, and we will have to wait to see if the tours and adventures we offer appeal to the new expats arriving here, maybe adjusting our events to do so or even attract customers from new markets.
So, there is no guarantee that Marina will be back next year, and if you are one of the many people who have thought, or even said to Marina that “I must go on one of the Desert Diva’s trips”, NOW is THE time!
- We will run 2, hopefully 3 tag-a-long trips each month from January through to March and these will be listed 4-6 weeks before the actual event.
- They are generally overland style drives; smooth and easy driving, with the focus on beautiful scenery and pleasurable driving.
- Driving and camping are the main components of the trip, also Marina is an accredited AD Tour Guide, specialising in the nature, culture and heritage of the desert.
- If you have never driven in sand before, Marina will include some tips and hints in the initial safety briefing as well as giving instruction on tackling the various sandy obstacles we encounter
- At the end of the first day we stop for a BBQ and campfire, and chat late into the night under a canopy of stars.
- Almost all drives are suitable for rookies – if they are not suitable for rookies we will say so in the trip description.
- 4×4 essential (see here for vehicle requirements).
- Maximum 10 cars including leader/support on each trip
- We communicate with walkie talkie and loan offroad flags to those who do not have them
- Tents/seating/mattress available for hire (or take your own) – suggested camping list here.
- Some itineraries are particularly popular – please book early and don’t miss out!
- We are not on trip advisor but we have customers who join our trips again and again, so we must be doing something right!
- Your safety is always our number one priority! (Maybe that line should be at the top of the list!)
Book any of our trips using the form below, which is also downloadable from here
[pdf-embedder url=”https://thedesertdiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/master-registration-form-camping.pdf” title=”master registration form camping”]
Payment
- 50% deposit due at time of booking to secure your place
- Balance due 14 days before event
- We accept Mastercard, Visa and Bank Transfer, all in AED
- There are 9.54AED to 1 OMR
Our next tag-a-long trip can be booked here
Conversely, if everyone who has said to Marina they would like to join one of her trips, actually signed up for one, every trip would be full!
#KEEPTHEDIVAINTHEDESERT
Here’s some snaps I took during our National Day trip at the start of this month.
