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Nextination

Inspiration for Traveling

Nextination

Inspiration for Traveling

AsiaEmirates

 Dubai: Hot air balloon ride in the Desert

By Esther 4 m read

Marhaba Nextinationer,

Surely you’ve always wanted to spend a day in the desert surrounded by dunes, right? If so, Dubai is the perfect place for that. One of the most incredible experiences I have ever had has been just a couple of days ago, when I was able to spend half a day in the desert and watched the sunrise from a hot air balloon. Thank you very much https://www.ballooning.ae/es/ for making this experience possible.

It all started at 4 in the morning when the alarm rang. I didn’t even want to get up, -it was too soon- but when I remembered what was the plan for that day, I prepared myself in a hurry and by 4.30 I was in the lobby where one of the guys from the company, pick us up with a van.

We arrived in the desert about 45 minutes later. It was still dark. More people were waiting for us there and the balloons were almost ready, ready to be inflated. What an incredible experience to see how the balloons were inflated with the fire. How cool to see the fire in contrast to the darkness of the night!

Soon, we were riding in the baskets of the balloons very excited.  I had already ridden in a balloon before, in Cappadocia, but you always feel butterflies in the stomach before and experience like this one. In our basket we were a total of about 15 people with “the captain”.

This hot air balloon company in Dubai is the only one in the world that performs hot air balloon flights along with the hawk flight. Yes, the hawk was an special passenger in our basket.

Since the Middle Ages, the Bedouins, named after the oldest inhabitants of the Arabian desert, have used hawks for hunting in the desert. However, oil wealth has ensured that in the Middle East nobody will ever have to hunt their own food again.

Arab sheiks use hawks as a symbol of their power and strength and are a source of pride among sheiks. Here, falconry is the national sport. The guide even told us that some sheiks can expect to pay up to $ 20,000 for a hawk and many have even their own passport. Even some airlines admit hawks as one more passenger. Also, in Abu Dhabi, there is the only Hospital for Falcons where they are treated with luxury.

Thus, the hawk is a national symbol of the Emirates, and is used in uniforms of security forces, passports and other official identity documents.

During the flight, this animal makes circle flights around the globe,. A very beautiful display of its majestic flight, with the dawn of Dubai over the desert as a backdrop. It is impressive to be able to see the reddish dunes of the Arabian desert from the hot air balloon.

If you are lucky, you can even spot wild gazelles, groups of camels or other typical Arabian desert animals such as oryx.

You will also discover green oases full of life and fly over several hundred palm trees, see farmers that start working and even greet them from the globe.

Once on land, the guide will take you to a camp in the middle of the desert where, suddenly, you will feel on the movie of the Thousand and One Nights. Here, you have a delicious breakfast based on delicacies such as hand-cut smoked salmon and caviar, several hot dishes, cold cuts, various types of fruit etc.

Here, I could taste the Arabic coffee called “qahwa” that is usually made with a few drops of rose water and seasoned with cardamom, cumin, clove and saffron. It is served in small cups called “pretend” and is always accompanied by dates because they emphasise its flavor.

It was delicious!. One of the things I like the most about traveling is being able to try and integrate as much as possible in the local culture and traditions.

After breakfast and full of energy now, we set off on board vintage Land Rovers. Those vehicles, convertibles of the 50s that seem taken from a museum, a real relic, were the first to cross the desert about 60 years ago.

Our guide put a turban on each one of us and after that, we entered the beautiful Dubai Desert Reserve where local fauna and flora are protected. Apparently there are more than 40 species that grow in the desert.

I felt inside of “Lawrence of Arabia”,  the movie, in that Land Rover, raffling the dunes under the morning sun. We were able to see gazelles, oryx and learn much more about the fauna and flora of the awake. I didn’t want it to ever end!

I really liked our guide, originally from South Africa. -hello Jacob if you read this!- . You are passionate about your work and we could completely feel it! Congratulations!

I totally recommend you to do this tour. You can find more info here. Click on the link.

If you have any questions or questions, you can send me an email or write it in comments.

If you want to see more pictures of my travels, since here I only put a few, do not hesitate to follow me in my Instagram clicking here. and subscribe to the blog here:

Thank you so much for reading me.

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Esther
I believe in pursuing your dreams, in doing what you love every moment of every day, and in inspiring others to do the same. Because life is what you're living, so make the best of it!
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ABOUT ME

I believe in pursuing your dreams, in doing what you love every moment of every day, and in inspiring others to do the same. Because life is what you're living, so make the best of it!

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Thinking about my days in Marbella a couple of wee Thinking about my days in Marbella a couple of weeks ago. Best place to recharge my batteries for this 2021! Have you been to Marbella? This place has become my happy place in the last year. Plus it reminds me a lot to LA. Can’t wait to publish a blog series about Marbella and surroundings. What do you think? Would you be interested? 
🇪🇸
Pensando en los días que pasé en Marbella tan sólo hace un par de semanas. ¡El mejor lugar para recargar mis baterías para afrontar  este 2021! ¿Has estado en Marbella?  Este lugar se ha convertido en “mi lugar feliz” en el último año.  Además, me recuerda mucho a Los Ángeles.  Quiero publicar una serie de blogs sobre Marbella y alrededores. ¿Os gustaría ?
Are you a morning person or a night owl? I used to Are you a morning person or a night owl? I used to be a night owl but nowadays I prefer to wake up early although I need to put quite a few alarms before that 😝. What about you? 
🇪🇸
¿Eres una persona madrugadora o más nocturna?  Yo solía ​​ser nocturna pero hoy en día prefiero despertarme temprano. Eso sí, antes necesito ponerme bastantes alarmas 😝. ¿Y tú?
“Learning English doesn’t have to be boring” “Learning English doesn’t have to be boring”

Hola Nextinationers, 
Si me seguís por aquí desde hace un tiempo, sabéis que he viajado por casi todo el mundo. Gracias a mi conocimiento del inglés he podido moverme sin problemas en la mayoría de los países, ya que es el idioma universal. Ahora que estoy de vuelta en Madrid y que no podemos viajar debido a la pandemia, estoy usando el inglés cada vez menos por lo que he decidido apuntarme a clases online de inglés en @skyenges una de las academias más grandes de Europa. 

A día de hoy con la pandemia no me siento segura yendo a una academia presencial de idiomas por lo tanto lo que me encanta de @skyenges es:
 
- Las clases online con un profesor particular, tú mismo eliges el horario que más te conviene y puedes estudiar 24/7. 
- Cuenta además con un club de conversación gratis para todos los alumnos que personalmente fue una de las cosas que más me gustó porque pienso que ésta es una de las mejores maneras de aprender un idioma. 
- Tienen además más de 115 cursos de inglés para adultos, entre ellos clases para perfeccionar la pronunciación y quitar el acento que a mí es una de las cosas que más me interesan.
- También ofrecen cursos para niños.

Os invito a hacer una clase de prueba gratuita y usando mi código nextination os regalan además 2 clases  al comprar un mínimo de 8.
En mi bio podrás encontrar el link de acceso. 
¿Qué tal se os da el inglés?

🇬🇧 
Hello Nextinationers,
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I´ve traveled almost all over the world. Thanks to my knowledge of English I have been able to move without problems in most countries, since English is the universal language. Now that I am back in Madrid and that we cannot travel due to the pandemic, I am using the English less and less so, I’ve decided to take some online classes at @skyenges , one of the largest academies in Europe. 
#ad #skyeng
Not all your storms come to disrupt your life. Som Not all your storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clean your path. ~ 
Due to the huge snowfall we had last weekend in Madrid, we can not go out and we are somehow stuck at home bc the streets are still full of snow and ice. How is your week going? 
🇪🇸 
No todas las tormentas llegan para perturbar tu vida.  Algunas vienen a limpiar tu camino. ~ 
Debido a la gran nevada que tuvimos el pasado fin de semana en Madrid, no podemos salir y de alguna manera estamos atrapados en casa porque las calles todavía están llenas de nieve y hielo. ¿Cómo va tu semana?
Do you want to build a snowman? ⛄️ Madrid the Do you want to build a snowman? ⛄️ 
Madrid these days feels like Lapland. So white and beautiful! Do you like the snow? ❄️
Can’t believe that it’s snowing today in Madri Can’t believe that it’s snowing today in Madrid cause is really weird to happen and just one week ago I was enjoying the 16 degrees and sunny weather by the sea in Marbella. Which team are you? Snow or beach? 
.
🇪🇸 
No me puedo creer que hoy esté nevando en Madrid porque es muy raro que suceda y hace tan solo una semana estaba disfrutando de los 16 grados y del clima soleado junto al mar en Marbella. ¿Y tú que prefieres? ¿nieve o playa?
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