Some incredible pictures from an incredible drone and its crafty pilot! Wind or no Wind!

Saeed, More questions...

What is the building in the background of camels465? It has a tall spire. A mosque?

In many of the camel pictures there does not seem to be a person with them. Do they travel from their corral out to feed alone sometimes? Are they going to pasture? Cattle here usually move from their farm "home" out to pasture an then return to the farm in the evening. Is that what I am seeing in the pictures?

Here in Minnesota in the northern half of the state we have wolves that are large enough to kill cattle or moose for that matter and it has long been a common practice to especially on mixed beef and dairy herds to turn them out to pasture in the morning and them go out and herd them back to the barn in the evening where they spend the night either in the corral (beef) or inside the barn where they are fed and then milked in the morning (dairy) and the cattle get used to the routine and go out and return on time by themselves. Generations of then living together and the same daily routine the make the daily trips without and human intervention quite often.

Please! More pictures of the desert It is incredibly beautiful. Maybe not so useful, maybe not so people friendly, but beautiful none the less. How large is it?

Thank you for all the pictures!

That is where we have a very large solar power station.

The building is a sort of showcase for it.

The camels are taken out in the morning, returning back in late afternoon.

They do have an I individual who accompany them.

He generally tries to keep all of them together, as son tend to stray away.

The person accompanying the camels can be in either a small 4 wheel car or just rides one of the camels.

Went out today.

Saw just one single oryx!!

No idea where the rest were.

Decided to drive around, and saw our normal desert gazelles.

But couldn’t get close to them at all in the sand dunes.

Took some very long distance photos, which I will post later on.

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Went out today.

Saw just one single oryx!!

Some more great pics! I love the ones that show the contrast between the sands and the designs in the sands, as well as the Camels and shadows against the sand. There's a decent gazelle in that group that you photographed, Saeed.

Is this a new small group of OryX? I don't recall seeing that crooked horned male before. (Age and memory may be factors for me) Some more nice pics of gazelles and camels!

This looks like a different herd.

I was very lucky to find the other two species of gazelle.

A friend wanted to go out this morning, and I think he brought us luck!

At least that is what he said

So, is that both mountain gazelle(the darker ones) and sand gazelle(lighter ones) in the recent pictures!? If so, he definitely brought you luck!

No.

Both are desert gazelles.

The reddish ones used to be more around, the lighter ones were almost extinct, like the Arabian Oryx.

They were bred and re-introduced.

Very successfully too.

Ok. Cool to see them both!

Saeed: The pics of the grasses and trees and the contrast that they make with the sand is quite beautiful. The desert is an amazing environment. As the the gazelles and oryx, do they normally not react to the drone? Or do they get nervous and bolt? What about the camels and the drone? Have you had others out there running their drones at the same time? As to the highway, does the government have people assigned to keep the sand off of the roadway so it does not cover up over time? One other question: I noticed that in some of your pics you have places in the dunes where it looks like the dunes have formed 'box canyons', and that the ground is right down to bedrock of some sort. Are those good places to camp to get out of the wind? I would suppose that they change over time with the shifting sands.

Sometimes they seem scared, others they could not care less.

One could land the drone on top of them, they just look at it.

Camels are not scared of them at all.

Sometimes others fly their drones too.

They highway and the cycle tracks are cleaned every day.

The rocky parts are found everywhere, not sure how they are formed.

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They highway and the cycle tracks are cleaned every day.

Eternal vigilance against the sands.

There are a lot of New England beaches that could use some of that sand!

Beautiful images of your desert land, Saeed.

Here, the leaves are turning yellow, orange and red. The colors of autumn.

Beautiful!

That is absolutely gorgeous Mike!

Saeed and Mike, Beautiful photos, Thanks, Brian

WOW! So much going on in that last group of pics! Where does the water come for those new outlying communities? Are they planning on building a lot of residences out there? How far from downtown are they and how many are they building? Or are they just recreational spots? They stretch quite a distance. There are some fantastic pics of the desert and its changing colors and designs! Great pics, as always, of the Oryx, gazelles and camels. Some unlucky goat missing its head?

l do they keep the desert from over running the houses and their landscaping? I would guess that the wind blows at certain times of the year and you have a "dune forming season" The looks not terribly unlike prairie when winter comes, and here snow is eminently capable of burying whole farmsteads. I have to believe that placing a homestead in the middle of the desert with all that landscaping means someone has to fight tooth and nail to keep the sand from reclaiming it. Also, here the native animals (deer in particular) like to eat landscaping and can demolish a awful lot of it in a single night. I have a neighbor lady who lets me shoot deer in exchange for keeping the small varmints at bay as well. So bunnies, squirrels, raccoons and chipmunks are always on the target list. If the population of any of them gets out of control and they get to starving to death they can be awfully bold and given the opportunity they can really eat a lot of expensive shrubbery that has taken years to develop properly.

This is about 60 kilometers from my house, which is basically by the coast.

It is a recreation activity area.

They have a long cycling tracks, which is extremely popular.

There is also horse training tracks for long distance, and camel training tracks.

The oasis you can see are tourist attractions.

The water is pumped up from undergrown wells.

The Arabian Oryx and gazelles have feeding places.

What an amazing country!

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Originally posted by Brian Canada:
What an amazing country!

Yes.

My generation is the first generation that had an education!

And we are in the process of sending a space ship to the moon!

From almost nothing to a modern country in one generation.

We are very proud of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
This is about 60 kilometers from my house, which is basically by the coast.

It is a recreation activity area.

They have a long cycling tracks, which is extremely popular.

There is also horse training tracks for long distance, and camel training tracks.

The oasis you can see are tourist attractions.

The water is pumped up from undergrown wells.

The Arabian Oryx and gazelles have feeding places.

I am sorry to bother you with so many questions, but You are the only person from UAE I have any contact with.

Do the Oryx and Gazelles roam free and then return to a feeding area where people leave feed for them? Is that what you are saying? Do you have a wind/blowing sand season? I know that the more eastern Sahara raises dust storms which cross the Atlantic and deposit measurable African sand and dust here.

What you are saying about being the first educated generation is particularly striking to me at this point in time in this country. Clearly education is wasted on some. Clearly some were never properly educated. Clearly the significance of those facts escapes many here. Instead of celebrating with a contribution to the accomplishment of our species, were are mired in trying to appeal to the least common denominator amongst us. That leaves some here in the position, whether educated or not, of stepping over the educated and capable like a dog turd on the sidewalk to hurry on into the next mistake.

I love the pics and the information, and the fact that Saeed is willing to share both!

Yes, there are feeding places were food is left for them.

Otherwise they do roam freely, and return to feed if they wish.

We generally do not have any very bad weather here.

We do have blowing sand sometimes, but not very often.

My grandfather did not know how to read or write.

My father learned to read and write basic Arabic.

We are the first generation that went to proper schools, and higher education.

I think one of the most important things we have in our favor here is that the law applies everyone.

And as we have practically every nationality working in the country, tolerance, and respect applies to everyone.

We are probably one of the safest countries to live in today.

Crime is very low, and criminals are punished, as it should be.

It is very hard for us to understand what is going in the West.

My mother spoke no English prior to going to school. My father came from a typical WASP family the were mainly academics. My grandmother ENFORCED proper English grammar on all of he grandchildren, and My grandfather taught them German on his knee at every opportunity. Todays US would make little sense to the lot of my grandparents.

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I think one of the most important things we have in our favor here is that the law applies everyone.

And as we have practically every nationality working in the country, tolerance, and respect applies to everyone.

We are probably one of the safest countries to live in today.

Speaking of tolerance, the LDS church recently announced that they had been granted permission to build, and would be building an LDS temple in Dubai. That speaks volumes about respect, acceptance and tolerance in the UAE of other beliefs and religions, and is a model for all other countries in the region. I am continuing to love the pics and the information on this beautiful country!

Saeed, I have a friend, a university professor, who taught in a college in the UAE somewhere, in the late 1880's. He had great stories to tell.
Now, after seeing your presentation, I plan to visit Dubai with my wife and some of the family, the first chance we get. I am mostly interested in the desert but am told that the city and the people are wonderful. When I start making specific plains I will take the liberty of contacting you for some basic travel tips.

Being a safe country, is it easy or difficult for a tourist to get around in? I like hiring a knowledgable tour guide/group to begin with.
My grandchildren would love to see those camels in the desert. ( So would grandpa!) Thanks, Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Saeed, I have a friend, a university professor, who taught in a college in the UAE somewhere, in the late 1880's. He had great stories to tell.
Now, after seeing your presentation, I plan to visit Dubai with my wife and some of the family, the first chance we get. I am mostly interested in the desert but am told that the city and the people are wonderful. When I start making specific plains I will take the liberty of contacting you for some basic travel tips.

Being a safe country, is it easy or difficult for a tourist to get around in? I like hiring a knowledgable tour guide/group to begin with.
My grandchildren would love to see those camels in the desert. ( So would grandpa!) Thanks, Brian

We have plenty of tourist guides, they can provide whatever services you require.

They can arrange camel rides too.

Perfect. Thanks, Brian

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My grandfather did not know how to read or write.

Camels638.jpg is a really fascinating picture. The desert, the camel herder rounding up a stray and the composition is just perfect!

Thank You!

It was very interesting yesterday.

Friday is our weekend, and many people go out to the desert now it is cooler.

Several people were camping out, we drove quite in.

We got visited by 4 cyclists on fat bikes.

We saw two lots of many cars dune bashing - I will post photos.

I guess that it does make sense to go shoeless when in the desert, as the sand would just fill your shoes. Man, that one lone gazelle is a monster! Love the ongoing pictorial, Saeed! More great pics!

I normally wear slippers, not shoes, here in town.

But I leave these in the car when I am in the desert.

The and gets everywhere!

I have to use a compressor to blow all the sand away from everything.