Right before New Years, Beth and I like to run away for a little weekend of relaxation somewhere in the UAE. This year, we chose the Desert Island Resort on Sir Bani Yas Island. Originally owned by the royal family, Sheikh Zayed established the island as his own personal animal and nature preserve. Exotic animals from African and across the Middle East were imported to stock the park. The island was recently converted into a hotel and visitors can now enjoy a mini-safari experience here in the UAE.

A special thanks go out to our friends at Omeir Travel. We were already excited to get a Junior Suite for less than the price of a regular room, but were especially surprised to learn we had been upgraded to a Villa upon arrival. Our room (really it was a house) was literally palatial.

The safari was a fantastic experience. Our guide got us quite close to all variety of gazelle and oryx to by found, but the highlight was getting to see two cheetahs. One cheetah was being kept in an enclosed area (the size of several football fields) while recuperating from an injury. His cousin, however, regularly comes to visit and we certainly enjoyed seeing them both.

They don’t “feed” the cheetahs. The cheetahs hunt for their own food and we almost got to see him catch his lunch right before our eyes. Just as we got our hopes up, however, he decided to take a nap instead.