GlobeTrotting with Kelly

What to Buy in Dubai (and What to See & Do)

On my recent vacation to a cosmopolitan city, I felt very safe, and the taxi drivers spoke English.  Where was I?  Oh, just the Middle East.  Dubai to be exact.

 

Now, before you freak out like my mother did when she discovered that her only two children were going to a place that was about 1 millimeter from Iran on the map, let me assure you that Dubai is currently the hottest vacation spot on the planet.  If you go in the summer, it is also literally hot, about 100 – 120 degrees.  The humidity is steamy, but their air conditioning works great.

What makes Dubai hot, other than the temperature?  It has everything.  And, everything is the biggest, best, or most.

Soon to be completed are the world’s highest tower and the biggest shopping mall.  It already has the only seven-star hotel (Burj Al Arab – shaped liked a sailboat) and the eighth wonder of the world (The Palm Islands).  My unscientific observation is that Dubai also has the longest rush hour traffic times (from 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.).

 

Dubai also has great shopping.  If you’re looking for upscale clothes, then Burjuman (Big …

June 13, 2014Comments Off on What to Buy in Dubai (and What to See & Do)Read More

The Magic of a Kenyan Safari

Within a few hours of leaving Nairobi and embarking on my safari, I was face to face with an elephant. I was too shocked to say a word – and as a professional speaker, not much leaves me speechless. Nothing separated me from that massive, gorgeous beast but air and a couple of metal bars that covered the opening where I stood.

That elephant, and the rest of his herd, had come to drink at the watering hole behind our hotel, the Serena Mountain Lodge. The elephants didn’t just guzzle some water and leave. They stayed and played for hours. Maybe I was wrong, but I believed they were staging their elaborate performance just for my benefit.

Later, while unpacking in my hotel room, I came face-to-face with another creature. Luckily, a window separated me from the Sykes monkey. He was playing on the second-storey ledge outside my room. James, our guide from All Seasons Safaris, reminded us to keep the windows closed, or the monkeys would ‘help us unpack.’

As our first adventure, the two-hour wildlife walk offered by the Serena Mountain Lodge turned out to be a great investment. The walk itself was quite an experience. It is …

June 4, 2014Comments Off on The Magic of a Kenyan SafariRead More