We're racking up an amazing number of luxury leisure experiences in The Middle East. I didn't write up much on my two trips to Emirates Palace or brunch by the beach at The Fairmont or brunch by the 31st-floor pool at the hotel that adjoins our building. Such times are pretty damn great. Feel free to cast me a braggart, but I promise I'm appreciating every damn moment of it. If I write a book about my time here, it might come off like the exact opposite of a Bret Easton Ellis novel, with a main character that is boyishly excited about every club and restaurant.
Yesterday was our second outing on a rented boat. The first time about a month ago, it was Leslie's entire company (up to that point) plus friends and family and boat crew. I'm no expert on boat sizes, but I'd guess it was a double-decker 50-footer, with about 30 people on board? This time, there were just five of us plus our Sri Lankan captain on a 30-footer.
Pretty outstanding day in the water and sun, as we spent about four hours out on The Corniche, the main seaside area along the Persian Gulf tributaries. The highlight of the day was a 15-minute period where a school of dolphins enveloped our boat. Leslie, of course, jumped in, hoping one would invite her to ride it. They were curious, but not quite that interested in making friends, so the closest anyone got to dolphin contact was from the boat about eight feet away. Unfortunately, they were fast and predictable, while my camera's shutter speed was predictably slow. Still, pretty amazing, and not something we had counted on at all.
Other than that, it was just a lot of swimming around and hoping that the water was fairly clean, drinking beers (which we had to hide like 16 year olds from the police boats) and frying like a hash brown in the 99 degree heat. I think we've gotten to the point of the year when no SPF can stand up against the Abu Dhabi sun for a prolonged period, and it's about to get a lot hotter.
Still, it was definitely one of those "it's good ta be da king" days, and we're generally not lacking for those in AD.
Is there any fishing to be done there? It's not an area that you hear much about with respect to game fishing but I'm sure there's something out there worth catching. I know angling isn't one of your hobbies but I'm curious none the less.
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