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Dubai is a sauna.  Every day, it’s been over 100-degrees Fahrenheit.  It’s so hot that when you walk outside, it takes a few seconds to catch your breath.  The weather is a good excuse to go to a water park.

Travel TipTravel Tip 26:  Go early.

No matter which waterpark you go to in Dubai, go when it opens and hit the major slides first.  By late morning, the parks are packed.  

From Nathan:  Wild Wadi Waterpark was great.  It had lots of slides that had many funnels and turns. The coolest ride was a slide that propelled you up, and then it took you down a pitch black, winding slide. The funniest highlight was when a bird pooped on Aidan. The poop was all over Aidan’s back, and some even got in his hair!

From Aidan:  Today while we were sitting at Wild Wadi eating lunch, I felt a splat on my back.  I told Mom that I thought someone threw something at me.  I turned around.  Mom saw that I had bird poop on me.  A bird had pooped on my head!  We went to the locker room.  I used all the soap that the shower had.  I felt a little better.  When we got back, I took 2 more showers.

(Note:  Aidan did find the equivalent of $40 on the following day.  Maybe getting pooped on is lucky after all!)

Travel Tip 27:  Bring your camera to Wild Wadi.Travel Tip

One of the best vantage points to get photos of Burj al Arab, the world’s tallest hotel – not to mention the only 7-star hotel in the world – is from Wild Wadi.  Because I didn’t want to get it wet or stolen, I didn’t bring my camera.  I wish that I had.  You can keep it (or your camera phone) in a locker when you’re not using it.

Travel TipTravel Tip 28:  Consider admiring Burj al Arab from afar.

Rooms start at $2000/night.  And you can’t just walk in for a peek.  You either have to be a guest or have a reservation for lunch/tea/dinner.  Just for tea, it’s about $78/person!

If you want the back story on the Burj al Arab, watch the Discovery Channel’s Superstructures episode that highlights the hotel.  Super interesting.

I took these photos of the hotel later in the week.

Exterior Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai
The world’s tallest hotel: Burj al Arab
There’s no public access to the Burj al Arab.
Yep, that’s a helicopter pad.
Difficult to tell from this angle, but the Burj al Arab is actually on it’s own man-made island.
The part of the hotel sticking out on the back is actually a restaurant.