Whoo Hoo – Atlantis, The Palm!

---

We are so excited, today we are off to go and stay at the Atantis - The palm Hotel, it’s the centre piece at the top of the man-made island in the shape of a palm tree.

So it is with much excitement we pile into our taxi tell him we’re going to the Atlantis and head off - in the wrong direction…

I eventually manage to get a word in when the driver stops talking on his mobile long enough to hear me to ask where he is taking us. To the airport he replies! So when I convince no we REALLY DON”T want to go to the airport he finally turns around and we get going again. When we arrive, strangely he doesn’t take the 15 AED overspend off…

We walk into the hotel and utter the usual ‘Oh my God!’ It’s incredible, just the foyer is a masterpiece, it is maybe 3 storey’s high with a centerpiece designed to look like coral with fish swimming though it. There are fountains all around the edge pouring water into huge pearl shells.

When we go to check in we are told that we will be checked in at the club lounge on our floor, too posh! So off we go, oohing and aarhing as we get further into the complex. Then as we get to the lift to take us up we see the aquarium, it is fantastic, so high and there are thousands of fish, sting rays, sharks, you name it! But no time to enjoy it now, paperwork to deal with first.

We are shown firstly the Club Lounge which we have access to from 7am-11pm, complete with all the snacks and soft drinks we want. This place will be getting a few good visits from us me thinks!

Then it’s off to our room. Again, wow it’s beautiful, huge bathroom that opens up to the bedroom with views out to the sea. From the balcony we have a view of the ocean and water park. And we can also see the top of the aquarium, so we can see all the fish, sharks and sting rays all swimming around, awesome!

We have a look around the hotel and then make our way to the aquarium, it’s included also in our package and it’s great. It’s so hard to believe we are in a hotel, the only thing that makes it not the same standard as say Underwater World at Hillarys back home is there is no tunnel that you go through. It’s designed on the whole Lost City of Atalantis theme and there are statues that follow the theme through the walking areas and in the aquarium there are ‘wrecks’ of buildings.

Then we hit the pool, there are more sun lounges in the one area than I think in all the hotels in Broome put together. The lounges are different though in that each one has it’s own little shade roof that you can pull over to where ever it suits you, pretty cool we thought.

DOLPHINS

Today we also have our dolphin swim at the dolphin lagoon attached to the hotel. They have 2 options, a shallow and a deep water interaction. We’ve gone with the deep water.

After changing into wet suits and sitting through a short dolphin documentary (we don’t want to watch, we want to do we feel like yelling out!) we are finally given to our handler who takes us to the lagoon to meet our dolphin.

We walk into the water and it’s not as cold as home, but it’s definitely on the refreshing side and now we know why we were given wetsuits. There are only 6 people in each group and they have only 2 groups at opposite ends of each lagoon and there are 4 lagoons in all.

We each take turns having dolphin time, getting a kiss, dancing, a hug, a spin around and then best of all a ride. The dolphin lays on its back and we hold on to each fin, so we are belly to belly, and then it’s off we go. The dolphin is so fast and the rides over so quick, but still it’s great fun. It’s actually a lot harder holding on than we thought so it’s probably just as well it’s over when it is because otherwise we’d be swimming into shore!

Our trainer was loads of fun and a really cool chick, somehow she even managed to remember everyone’s name, and I couldn’t even remember hers!

DUBAI MALL

The big malls all supply free shuttle buses from some of the bigger hotels but we don’t make it in time so we catch a taxi the infamous Dubai Mall, armed with our next bundle to post home. So first things first, find the Post Office. Our tour guide from yesterday assures us every mall, especially this one, has one. But it seems it’s every mall EXCEPT this one… So we are sent to the Palace Hotel - just (which, just for the record, seems to be a very, very nice hotel, and so very close to the Dubai Mall - just in case any of you shoppers out there are interested) who we are assured will post our things for us, but no, ‘only postcards, you will need to go to a Post Office’, duh, that was our plan… So onwards, another taxi, 20 minutes drive and we get to a proper Post Office (just want to add, it’s now after 7pm, lucky we’re not at home or everything would be closed) and when we find someone who can speak English, he packs everything up and I do all the obligatory paperwork, he tells us we can only pay in Dirhams, damn. So after pleading my best case, he gives in and lets us pay in US dollars. So again, my faith in humanity is lifted. Back in another taxi (they are just so easy to get here, so unlike home!) and off again to the mall.

We get there in time to get our spot for the fountain show. There is still about 15 minutes until it starts and there is already a big crowd. It’s a good spot for people watching though.

The fountain show, for the short time it lasts, is incredible. It definitely gives the one on Sentosa Island in Singapore a run for it’s money. There are 4 enormous fountains and they shoot up in time with music making all sorts of patterns. It’s amazing what can be done with a few drops of water.

Then it’s off to explore. We don’t have time to see all of the 4 storeys but we made a good dent in one corner! It has all the stores that we only ever get to see the copies of in Thailand and Bali and the best we can do is take photos and spy inside like a tourist. Even Paspaley Pearls from home has made it here, go Aussie! So after trekking through Ed Hardy, Cartier, Tiffany’s, Guess and Chanel, we find a trusty food hall and get some Magic Wok!

The Aquarium can be seen from every level and it’s huge. It has something like 10 million litres of water and thousands of fish and sharks. When we get there, there are divers in the water feeding the fish (with the sharks watching on!), what a job!

The ice skating rink is doing a roaring trade and overhead is huge screen that they show concerts on and I guess if the right team was playing, the World Cup.

So after easily killing 3 hours in the Mall, we track down our shuttle bus back to the hotel and are lucky enough to nab one of the last seats. Sadly, quite a few people miss out so it’s back to the taxi rank for them.

Our hotel is the last drop off, so we get to see a couple of the other swanky hotels we went past in our city tour yesterday. As our guide from yesterday would say “they all look beautiful and very special with the lights on”.

---