Tuesday 28 April 2009

Kayaking = Flamingoes, Flying Fish, Turtles and SHARKS!!?




Yesterday I went Sea boating with a great group of emirati youngsters and I saw my first Black tip reef shark on a session!




That lovely little (with the emphasis on the little) dorsal fin was just poking around - the thing couldn't have been more than 1.5 m long, it was a real treat to be honest..

However...

Today I had a group of numpties.

Midway through the session I realised we were quite near a load of turtles and the group asked if we could get a little closer, "healthy enthusiasm for the local animal life" i thought...

We stopped in the middle of at least 10 - 15 turtles, all coming up for air at different times... what i didn't realise was my group were paused - ready to pounce and catch one of these badboy's if they got close enough!





So we moved on a bit.

And then we came across a grey reef shark, the biggest damn fish i've ever seen - 2-3m in length and our position was pushing it back into very shallow water - so when my hungry and insane Emirati group started trying to hit it with a paddle, it started to fight back - a scenario I previously never imagined encountering in the chilly "break the ice off it" waters of Wales.

Needless to say my, "Get the hell away from that bloody shark!!!" Got translated pretty quick - and we gave it a bit of space to vacate - crazy shiznits..

The usual flamingo posse were around laughing at us and about ten minutes later a fish in the shallows we continued into started jumping around the whole group - in and out of the water - doing two full laps of us.

I didn't think about it at the time, but i'm pretty sure he was saying:
"Thank you God!! You crazy fools just stopped me from becoming lunch!!! Woohoo!! I'm Alive!!"



the one that got away......

Monday 6 April 2009

Top 5 Spot the Difference's between UK & UAE Driving!


1:
UK: In a 10 hour car journey I only swore at 3 other drivers on the road!
UAE: In a 3 minute car journey you could easily swear at 10 drivers, albeit through gritted teeth as you get deported for rude words or hand gestures!

2.
UK: When people flash their lights at you it means, "After you kind sir, feel free to go ahead of me.."
UAE: When Emirati's flash their lights at you it means, "I'm approaching your car at double your speed, get the f@ck outta my way before I ram you off the road!"

3.
UK: Drivers usually overtake in the outside lane.
UAE: Lane, what lane? Expect incoming vehicle strike from any angle and they'll overtake in the hard shoulder if you don't move after flashing!

4.
UK: Driving on a spring day you'd be looking at lambs dancing, green grass, daffodils, bluebells, leafy trees and a cow or two.
UAE: When driving in a desert expect to see camels wandering, sand, sand, some dust and a bit more sand, the odd ugly goat and if you are lucky a donkey!

5.
UK: You get in a taxi, get to your destination, pay the meter bill. Happy days.
UAE: You get in a taxi, sit down and the driver asks you, "How much you pay me?!"


aaaaarrrrgggggghhh!!?