Sundowner 4x4 Desert Safari

This was one of my most horrible tours...ever for many reasons: 1. The travel agent confirmed by Viator was not reachable on the phone 2. When we finally managed to get him, the driver was 45mins late 3. It was all downhill after this. DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR EVEN FOR FREE

This was such an average experience from the very start. We were picked up by the rudest driver I have ever met. His name was Rashid. When we met him in our hotel lobby, he did not greet us, he simply walked out and we just had to follow him. He did not introduce himself, and simply climbed into the vehicle. We just followed. Not one word while driving. He then stopped at the Dubai Mall. Did not say why. He left us in the underground parking and left us for 5 minutes. Then he runs back. When we ask why we are are here, he says pick up other people. Now, it was our mistake that we thought we were along on this tour, which is fair enough. But when we told him we did not know we were going to be on a group tour, he barked how much you pay for this?, you think this is not shared? I was so shocked. When he picked up the other couple, he shouted at my husband to move in the middle so the lady could come into the car. I cannot believe that viator would work with people like this. Then after going to pick up another person who refused to come into the vehicle when she saw she had to sit at the back of the van, we finally started the trip. Rashid spend the trip on his phone complaining in urdu which I understand to his office. He never talked to any of us. So please stop lying to customers that we are being picked up by a professional guide. In our case, we picked up by a rude and unpleasant man. At the Dune bashing, he gave some random explanations about how things were going to go.. The dune bashing area was awful and tacky. Then he started the dune bashing. He got carried away, hit his vehicle into the dune, damaged it and worse of all, I hit my legs and got terribly bruised. When we tell him this after he stopped the vehicle, he said oh. Maybe he should learn to say sorry? Seriously, If I had been in my home country, I would have reported him to the police. The Dunes were beautiful. But I did not have time to enjoy it. My husband was checking my bruises, We barely had time to take few photos and we were rushed by that unpleasant rashid to go back. We had to hand around doing nothing at the main dune bashing entrance while he sorted the vehicle. Then we drove to the camp. Dont even know where to start on the camp The place was very average. Starters were one samosa and 5 oily chips. Belly dancer was a joke. She thought belly dancing meant jiggling her breasts only. Fire show and dervish were ok. Food average. We couldnt wait to go back. And even then, the unpleasant rashid had made other arrangements. He had decided we would be dropped off by another guy. we had to wait for 15 minutes until our new driver arrived. I DO NOT recommend this operator. Awful driver, who needs to be taught manners. Waste of our money and time. We could have eaten much nicer local food in dubai itself.

Started off badly with a pick up time 1 hour and 20 minutes late in a MPV, not a land cruiser as expected !!! ... No real explanation of why the delay had occurred. Eventually got to the start point to be transferred to a 4x4 for dune bashing ... All felt rushed and unorganised ... We missed the sunset due to being late , had 5 minutes for few photos and then left again by being transferred yet again to an MPV before being transferred yet again into a 4x4 got the feeling that the organiser was trying to hail anyone who had a spare 4x4 vehicle to borrow . Eventually arrived at camp for an entertaining evening and food which was good' however everything was rushed . No time to relax and view the many stores , no time for the henna tattoos or other local services ... All in all a bit of a shambolic excursion ... I wouldn't really recommend the operator for this excursion , I would do it again with a reputable operator who actually have there own 4x4 vehicles , which would minimise the 4 transfers during the evening , hopping from MPV to 4x4 and back again etc etc . The whole experience was bit of a let down due to lack of punctuality from the pick up point .