When Salam Almazrouei was a boy, he and his friends would play a game out in the desert that most people would find terrifying.
In the dead of night, despite being too young to drive in most countries, they would take cars out into the huge sea of sand dunes stretching from Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia, then turn the headlights off.
With only the moon to light the way, they would then race to see who could make it home in the fastest time.
It was clearly a game fraught with peril. Take a wrong turn, break down or get stuck in soft sand and you’d be on your own, miles from civilization, left to the mercy of a rising desert sun that could bring oven-like temperatures during the day.
“But we never got lost,” he says.
For Almazrouei, these seemingly identical dunes, stretching as far as the eye can see, are as familiar as streets are to a city dweller. Although occasional high winds can blow the sands around, the terrain, he says, never loses its familiarity.
This corner of Liwa Desert, also known as Rub’ al Khali or the Empty Quarter, has been home to Almazrouei’s Bedouin family for generations. Although they’ve now set up homes and businesses in Abu Dhabi’s towns and cities, the desert remains in their hearts and they return regularly.
And now the 46-year-old wants to share it. Inspired by his own extensive travels as a student and engineer, he’s tried to brainstorm ways to help people from beyond the UAE engage with and enjoy the magic of Liwa.
“At first, I came up with the idea of setting up a camp in the US, in California, complete with 70 Arabian camels,” he says. “But they didn’t allow it because of concerns over foot and mouth disease. And so we then said, ‘let’s set it up here.'”
Swallowed by sand
“Here” is a spot of almost otherworldly beauty. A smooth blanket of sand that gently ruffles out as far as the eye can see. At night, it basks under inky skies alive with stars. During the day, bright sunlight and blue skies.
It’s truly the middle of nowhere. It’s a two-hour drive south and west from downtown Abu Dhabi, through the small city of Zayed and then another hour south until the road reaches almost its last mile before it’s swallowed by sand.
To accommodate visitors, Almazrouei has, with the backing of his father, Ibrahim Almazrouei, established Liwa Nights — an elegant tented desert camp that sprawls across a gentle slope on the edge of the Empty Quarter.
On the outside, the tents’ white, sandstorm-battered exteriors look functional. Inside, they offer pure glamping luxury.
Ripping back the Velcro-sealed doorway reveals an aircon-cooled interior, lined with plush drapes, carpeted by a traditional rug and lit from above by an elegant lamp dangling from the tent’s lofty ceiling.
There’s a large, comfortable double bed made up with fine cotton sheets, a dresser, a wardrobe, a full-length mirror and a coffee table and chairs. A side curtain parts to reveal a proper bathroom, complete with flushing toilet and a shower kitted out with posh soaps.
If you can pull yourself away from contemplating the vast emptiness and adjust to the muffled silence of being so far from civilization, a good night’s sleep is a strong possibility.
“I don’t consider it as a hotel, but an experience,” says Almazrouei. “When you get to your room, you will be amazed that everything has been designed by us. When you are in your tent you are in luxury, but step outside and you’re in the desert.”
For food and entertainment,Almazrouei has built a more permanent structure nearby. Designed to look like a traditional Middle Eastern house from the 1800s, using imported African wood, it has a dining room, bar, indoor and outdoor seating and a souvenir shop.
On warm nights, illuminated by fairy lights or a flickering campfire fanned by refreshing breezes, it’s the perfect place to gather for a cool drink to hear tales of the desert. In the daytime, it’s the meeting place for activities including camel treks, falconry or dune bashing 4×4 drives.
The best time to visit is during cooler months from October to March. The place stays shut during summer when it’s too hot. The temperatures only relent, it’s said, in late August when a bright star called Sulhail appears over the southern horizon.
An all-year-round bricks-and-mortar alternative can be found over the dunes at the fancy Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort.
