Abu Dhabi, UAE

The flight to Amman and then Dubai was uneventful. I wish I could say the same for the check in and luggage collection process. We chose to travel with only hand luggage. That is not very typical for me as a Nigerian. We’re used to lugging mountains of suitcases filled with shopping for every conceivable member of the family plus things from the cousins, sisters, grandmothers, great, grand aunts, brother of the wife of a cousin…you get the gist. So of course Onyaidu Snr had a suitcase she wanted me to take to Regie. My first instinct was to say no, ‘Ain’t taking it!’ My Nigerian side somehow said yes. The crucial point is that even though we were transiting at Amman, we did not book transit flights. We had separate flight bookings. It was a small suitcase – I would describe it as cabin sized but Aegean disagreed and asked us to check it into the hold for free. Andrew specifically asked her if we would need to clear immigration (fees to pay) to collect the suitcase and the lady said no. She has noted that it should be transferred to our Emirates flight. I was dubious. Of course, we got to Amman and nothing of such nature had happened. We would need to clear immigration (that would be 40JOD x 5 plus 10 JOD x 5 exit fees) That would actually pay to ship the blasted case from Cyprus to Nigeria! The immigration officials were very helpful and said to go the tickets office instead. At least they didn’t say ‘We don’t know!”

Back at the help desk, we gave all our names, flights details, DNA information etc and were assured our bag would be transferred to the flight for Dubai. We settled for the wait and …

We found Andrew’s doppelganger!

We were sad to leave Onyaidu Snr but also excited about meeting Regie and the kids! Again we last saw them in April 2015 so a long time ago. We planned to spend 10 days in Abu Dhabi. It was the longest we were staying in one place but it was justified as this was basically to spend quality time together with family. We booked accommodation at Jannah Al Sarab Hotel. Remember my father was supposed to join us? Well after purchasing his tickets and paying for his visa, he decided 5 days before the trip that he wouldn’t be able to make it. Considering we already have a very fractured relationship, I was incensed and to be honest, I still am so I will not say much on that. (This is where the British side of my family dispense me 🙈🙈)

Thanks to my sister not getting her act together on time, we didn’t book our accommodation till the 1st week of December. This meant we paid a premium for the rooms. There were large, spacious and had kitchenettes but at $4000 for 10 nights, they were not cheap. We arrived Dubai around 10pm and got to the luggage carousel. Surprise, surprise! Yep, our suitcase did not arrive. Again, we all trudged over the the airline office – bear in mind we had all our luggage and all we need with us. In our backpacks! Anyho, a good 35 minutes later and all our details taken down, it transpired the suitcase had not been transferred to our flight after all! We were assured we would get it though and it would be taken to our hotel. Sigh…

We took a taxi to Abu Dhabi. Got there just after midnight, checked in and checked into bed! A good 10 hours plus later, we emerge for breakfast, a stroll round and back to the hotel as were were expecting my sister and her children that afternoon. They arrived around 6pm, we all had dinner and the children proceeded to break a mirror! All by accident of course! A call and chat with the hotel manager set us back 350 dirhams…

We spent a leisurely 10 days in Abu Dhabi, braved the public transport to Dubai once and decided the whole of the UAE wasn’t for us. We have thought about moving there for work but the financial gain will not make up for the loss in other areas for us. Public transport in the whole of UAE is segregated. The women sit in front and the men behind. There’s the no man’s land space in the middle of the bus. However, during rush hour that space is filled with both men and women squashed into each other. What’s the point of segregating then? For us, it was a bit of a nightmare as alone with the children, they would sit well and nicely. But once Andrew and I were both in the bus albeit in the different sections, they fought, want to go sit with daddy or mama, throw tantrums. I guess the alternative is to hire a car. But we shouldn’t need to. The public transport was adequate for our needs. The most bizarre situation was getting on the bus from Dubai back to Abu Dhabi. Time was around 7pm on a workday – Andrew had to go into their Dubai branch office. The queues snaked all the way round the bus station. 2 queues for 2 buses. 1 male and 1 female. The journey is almost 2 hours. We started off by queuing separately and as we got closer to the buses, I thought hang on…this is mad! So Andrew came to join us. Once they ascertained we were a family, he was let on the bus but he was the only male in the whole coach of about 90 people! We also had occasions when I or my sister would request or say something and were looked at blankly or the response was directed at Andrew. Whatevs!!! I was prepared for that though and for my sister, it didn’t really register on her radar as we grew up in Northern Nigeria where it’s the norm for men to speak for women and the expectation is also that the men pay for everything. That did stump the waiters a bit. They’d hand the bill to Andrew, I then make payment. You can sort of see them trying to decide if they’d done the wrong thing or not! By the 2nd night of eating in our regular local eatery, the guys got the hang on waiting for me to order and handing the bill over to me. Kudos to them!

There was a distinct lack of greenery and parks. We did take the bus to Al Maryam island to visit a purpose built park there. It was a lovely park and had lots to do. It was also very obvious that all the parents at the park were expats and quite a lot of nannies. I was mistaken for a nanny twice – not the first time and probably certainly will not be the last time!

We mostly walked everywhere and ate at the local cafes near the hotel. There were a few scattered parks which we explored with the children. The only touristy activity we did was go see the mosque. Oh and we spent some time in the malls – sister did a lot of shopping! Ok, I confess, I also bought myself a shiny new smart phone! It was almost half the price of what it would have cost in NZ!

Food and spending moneywise – we budgeted £500 or $1000 and spent it all. For the taxi from the airport, we arranged it through the hotel and it was 450 dirhams/ £94/ $180 ish. For the taxi back to the airport, we found our own local taxi driver. It was a grand total of 200 dirhams/ £42/ $85 ish. The 2nd taxi driver picked and dropped my sister first then came for us the next day.

Oh! Our suitcase did arrive the next day but when they called the hotel to ask for me, they were told there was no Mrs J Radford booked there. Even though I booked and paid for the rooms, they were booked under Andrew’s name and they had no common sense whatsoever to call and check if indeed any Mrs Radford was included in the booking! Sheesh!

I was convinced our flight out of Dubai was at 9pm. The night before our flight, it turned out that it was a 9am flight! Cue frantic calls trying to re-arrange our transport times. Phew! That was a good save!

Anyway, sights and sounds of Abu Dhabi below!

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – we went by public transport. Took about an hour each way and cost 4 dirhams per person for transport. Entry to the mosque is free but there are long queues. Dress very modestly or you can borrow one of the dresses there.

Brings back memories of living in northern Nigeria

First glimpse from the road

The are free golf cart rides from the gate to the mosque entrance. It was very much welcome as it was hot, humid and very muggy

Cousins

There’s always one

The shimmery courtyard

Lots of gold everywhere

Main prayer hall

Christmas Day we had lunch at Yadoo’s House. It was excellent traditional food in traditional settings. They also have enclosed booths for those that don’t want to be watched whilst eating. It was good value for money and very child friendly. Portions were quite large too.

Enclosed booths in the background. To the right were floor mats and low seats. Andrew wouldn’t have coped there so western style seating it was.

Our hotel was close to the beach. Naturally, we spent quite some time there. PS – there are no public toilets along the whole length of the promenade which is a good 3/4 mile long. That sucks when you have little children in tow! You can hire bikes and cycle it or skate your way or walk like we did. It is a nice, relaxing and quiet walk. There are rest areas along the whole route and the children delighted in running, jumping, hiding and seeking all the way