6th edition of Camel Trek to kick off from Liwa on Dec.4

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

As the weather in UAE turned cool especially in the evenings, the 14-day annual Camel Trek will start on Dec.4 from the desert in Liwa, Abu Dhabi.

The annual expedition of the camel caravan organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center announced the date of the sixth edition of its Camel Trek.

Making an early start this year, the trek is to depart on Dec.4 from Liwa, and across the bewildered sand dunes and desert landforms.

It will reach Dubai within a timeframe of around 14 days.

Since its inception, the Camel Trek attracted adventure lovers from all walks of life, representing different countries and nationalities.

From this event’s humble beginning, the way was paved for hundreds of willing participants.

Only last year, the number of registrants exceeded 1000 people.

With the launch of the sixth edition at Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2019, held in October, the number of registrants exceeded 700 people.

In the past years, the door was open for registrants to come and practice at the dedicated camel farm in Dubai, based on a schedule of timings. “Endurance, commitment and physical fitness, are key to selecting and shortlisting the trek’s participants, in addition to availing new opportunities to new joiners,” said Hind Bin Demaithan Al Qemzi, Director of Events at HHC.

“We have shortlisted the most apt participants. They were from both genders and represented countries including UAE, France, Germany, Albania, UK, and we also have an Emirati woman for the first time on this annual trek,” assured Hind.

Ready and set to depart from Liwa desert on Dec.4, the journey of endurance is about to sail across the desert sands on camel backs, to encounter new challenges and thrilling adventures.

Safety and security measures are in place to ensure an anodyne journey.

The journey started from Liwa ends at the Heritage Village set up by HHC in the Global Village. The Heritage Village has been attracting every year thousands of visitors not only from the local population but tourists attending Global Village also experiencing the extraordinary life of Emiratis there as live performances, craftsman and women showcasing cultural and traditional activities to entice visitors.  The CEO of HHC, Abdullah Hamdan Bin Dalmook, will lead the trek.

He has been a regular participant and the source of Emirati heritage, since the trek’s early editions.

It is also mentioned that the last edition of the Camel Trek has set a new record.  The trekkers managed to travel 700km on camel backs, travelling 70km for 10 hours per day. This is a hard to achieve record.  “We call them desert knights, but they are normal individuals who had the audacity to face this challenge of resilience, patience and will. They all had one common denominator of living a past time experience and learn about our Emirati heritage,’ concluded Hind.

Recently, a new “0.0625mm in Diameter Exhibition” entertained the audience as part of the Dubai Design Week, at Total Arts Gallery.

The exhibition held from Nov.11-16 is a design experience featuring furniture design, photography, video-objects and programming through the week, supported and managed by Hamzat Wasl Studio - a creative community collective.

The show was curated and designed by Hind Bin Demaithan (featuring herself); Jawaher Al Khayyal and Ola Allouz.

The design installation was activated by live music, spoken word poetry, private photoshoot sessions, falcon interactions and more.

The idea of the three creatives, coming together is extracted from the theme of the exhibition itself.

From the 0.0625mm diameter of one sand grain, to the bewildered sand dunes, which always holds the Hatheera, the Bedouin winter gathering.

Like a time capsule, a retro effect to redesign the Hatheera.

Known today as the Majlis, or the gathering place of the Bedouins, is unleashed.

As “a once upon a time” meeting place for the inhabitants of this land, it will yet again be the design installation with contemporary elements at Total Arts gallery.

A place of bonding, mingling and interacting in the cold winter evenings, the Hatheera is re-innovated time and again to align with Dubai’s cultural vision.