now, then habibi ...

Tuesday

May122009

Qasr Al Sarab

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 1:29AM

“Mirage Palace”, boy that sounds romantic, doesn’t it? That’s the name of the new hotel that ALEC is building. We went to have a look-see. Driving there is totally exciting, dune after dune after dune and then some. Oh wait, the occasional camels on the dunes:

and the Department of Forestry, still hard at work:

The boy was being totally cute:

The little town of Hameem, close to the site:

And finally, the site entrance:

I feel so proud, seeing ALEC’s name all over that board. Right, now we enter the site and it’s a dirt road and bumpy and you wonder when on earth will we get there?

nope, not yet …

ah, there we go, the entrance, and after a short little while, this:

and then this:

some more ‘cause it’s just so darn impressive:

We then went to the camp, nothing special, but certainly enough. They have these pre-fab homes with aircon and a little kitchen and then outside, the lapa-area with a swimming pool, and an indoor bar with pool tables and a dart board, essential items when you have a bunch of men working and staying together :) This is quite an undertaking. If you wanna think about the logistics for just a moment. You start with desert, no infrastructure, nothing. They had to build a labour camp, with that comes the supply of a kitchen and food, transport to and from Abu Dhabi, on a weekly basis. Then you have to establish the management’s camp, and they are organised, let me tell you, satellite TV, a mess hall that provides three full meals a day and all the water and cool-drinks that you can have, as well as internet access! I love that they are so well set-up :)

Right, after we got settled, it was of course, time for sundowners, after a short dune-bashing trip:

Sunset over the Empty Quarter.

The next day was spent quite lazily in and around the pool and watching the rugby games.

On our way to the site, a look back at the manager’s camp:

The idea behind the architecture is to have it resemble an old fort, as close as possible, while also conveying a sense of exclusivity and luxury. The finishings and attention to detail is just beautiful. Here then, a dream in the making:

Attention to detail

This is the view, across the valley

While we were having drinks, someone told the boy, to pose for a photo, he did:

Oh lordy he’s a hoot! I then asked his dad to please take a photo of the boy and I, ‘cause, you know, I’m always behind the camera, of course Gideon told him to frown, Kaydin’s still practising so it’s rather hilarious:

And by now it was getting really dark, so went back to the camp for a gorgeous braai.

Now, onto the new site, yes, it’s our very own website, to all my techie-savvy people, I apologise if this is going to bore you, I have people to educate though, so please feel free to browse the photo gallery in the mean time :)

Right, now why is this special again? oh yes, here’s why:

That’s right, our very own domain name! why the fuss though? well, it gives me all sorts of capabilities that I just either couldn’t do in blogger, or I wasn’t impressed with their version of it.

On the right, you’ll find links to our Photo Gallery {which will be in a perpetual state of being updated} as well as a link to my scrapping LO’s.

I now also have a complete separate scrapping blog, so as not to confuse people with “blog trains” and product announcements and such :)

At the top, you’ll see a link to the scrapping blog:

Now, dear Irmie, to leave a comment, scroll down to the end of a post, and look for the word “comments”, click on it, it will open a web-form, where you type in your details and a wonderfully ecstatic message to me, that you managed to do it, with full realisation that you’ll now need to keep that up, lol! Click on the “create post” button, to actually post the message :)

Right, that’s it for now, in the next post, how to VoIP, YES baby!!!!

We send much love to all!

Marianne |

13 Comments |

Email Article |

View Printer Friendly Version

Email Article to Friend

Reader Comments (13)

I looked at these pics with complete awe!! the building looks like it was formed from the sand...like the mummy in that movie..it is amazing and you should indeed be proud! wow! is my first response...

May 12, 2009 |

anneofalamo

I am UBER impressed! Wow! First of all, the blog is a class act - is it not the most wonderful thing having your own domain!?

And second of all, WOW! Can I come to you for a holiday!? I never thought the desert could look so appealing. Beautiful photies, Maz! And your boy is just too cute!

mwah!

May 12, 2009 |

Caz

MMMMMM!!!!!

How cute are you?!? Love the new website! And thank you for the lovely photo's!

Mwah!
Me

May 12, 2009 |

Bea

WOW Marianne - wonderful site and photo's :)

May 12, 2009 |

dawn inskip

Oh wow, great photos. I can't wait to see more later :)

May 12, 2009 |

Tiffany

How awesome is this!!! I love the photos...they look amazing and Congratulations on your new site! You did a fabulous job!

May 12, 2009 |

Mari

Wow what an interesting life you lead :)

May 13, 2009 |

Melissa

Heck the kid's grown! Can't believe there's so much sand around and you haven't lost the plot yet (in my mind white sand=beach :) ) Thanks for the update! xoxox G

May 13, 2009 |

Gillian

UIteindelik kry ek 'n kans om Jan se laptop en jou blog bymekaar uit te bring!!!! Die foto's van die woestyn bring nostalgiese herinneringe terug. Geen dramatiese nuus hier nie: eet-slaap-werk-eet-slaap-werk-jag-eet-slaap-werk-eet-slaap-werk. Met die vlg langnaweek in Junie gaan ons weer jag, naby Kimberley, mamma gaan saam.

Ons 5 maande oue Jack Russelltjie, Bella, is te oulik vir woorde.
Ons moet ernstig praat oor Kaydin se truitjie - as ons Kimberley toe ry wil ek reeds aan die brei wees.

Baie liefde vir jou twee manne, liefde Annet

May 21, 2009 |

Annet

open a new window, login to yourwow goldaccount, and study your guide is it is the most useful wow

potool you have and has much of the information you need. If you are using the guide but continue to get lost or cannot find where you need to be, just

July 13, 2010 |

fdsafd

we provide you the best and most fashionable products. All the products are 100% high quality, competitive price, free shipping with best and timely service, 100% satisfaction. Big discount for big order. Welcome to make your choose.Enjoy your shopping!

cheap uggs boots
cheap ugg
ugg outlet
uggs outlet
cheap ugg boots
discount uggs
uggs on sale

December 13, 2010 |

UGG Cardy sale

So good! I like it very much,Lukcom diamond watches

April 15, 2011 |

tracy

Just wanna say thank you for the information that you have been shared on your site. well it is more better.

January 5, 2012 |

VoIP providers

Post a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »

Author:

Author Email (optional):

Author URL (optional):

Post:

↓ | ↑

Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

Find me on facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Qasr Al Sarab

Reader Comments (13)

Post a New Comment

Link an External Response