Dubai's desert oasis

Joan Scobey

Fast forward to today. Drive out of Dubai into the desert, leaving thickets of skyscrapers behind you. The modern city was built on sand by the Persian Gulf, so the desert starts where construction stops. And that's the problem.

The city is expanding at an alarming clip, eating into the arid wilderness and its unique environment. For decades, the rulers of Dubai, the Al Maktoum family, have worried about the rapid loss of the desert ecology and the disappearance of its wildlife from hunting. In the 1960s, then-ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum initiated Dubai's first conservation program: He sent herds of Arabian oryx and other endangered species to a wildlife reserve in Arizona, which has a climate similar to Dubai's.

Thirty-five years later his son, the charismatic Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, had over 90 descendants of those oryx flown back to their original habitat.

The concept of desert conservation really took off in 1997 when Emirates, the airline, planned a deluxe, eco-sensitive desert resort. Less than 40 miles from the city they found a site with a wide range of indigenous habitats, one of the largest subterranean water supplies in the country, and expansive views of rolling dunes. It was the perfect place for the kind of magical desert sanctuary Emirates envisioned; the government of Dubai allocated 25 square kilometers of land for what became Al Maha Resort.

Far from being an odd couple, luxe lodges and conservation can be a symbiotic route to responsible tourism. This was a concept familiar to Emirates Vice President Tony Williams, a South African ecologist with game lodge experience. He developed Al Maha on the model of several deluxe South African safari lodges, where pricey rates provide funds to support conservation work and, incidentally, keep the human population to a minimum in a fragile environment.

By the time Al Maha opened in 1999, 6,200 indigenous trees and shrubs were planted, telephone and electric lines were buried underground, and solar panels for water were in place. Nothing unsightly mars the landscape. The central house, built in the stucco-wall style of a Bedouin fort, sits on a green belt in the middle of the site. Here is where you linger over a drink on the canopied veranda, browse in the library and dine on sea bass and osso buco or tabouleh and tagines while watching the wildlife at a lighted water hole outside.

The private magic is in 40 tent-like chalets tucked into the surrounding dunes like a Bedouin encampment, each with a spacious infinity plunge pool, awning-shaded deck and traditional artifacts and antiquities. The soaring, tentlike ceiling is supported by two big poles; a pair of sofas inside and loungers outside offer front-row seating for endless desert vistas. A box of crayons and paper rest on an easel for your inner Georgia O'Keeffe.

There is much to do at Al Maha. I could have chosen falconry or archery with a traditional recurved bow, both favorite desert pastimes, horse or camel riding, even pampering at the new spa, but I opted for a desert safari. Since the original site was extended to 225 square kilometers to form the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, an area almost 5 percent of the size of the Emirate of Dubai, it is now the largest national park in the Middle East. It is, in fact, the biggest project in the whole United Arab Emirates.

So at 5 one afternoon, I climbed into an air-conditioned four-wheel-drive with Conservation Officer Gavin Nel; it wasn't exactly what I expected on a safari, but, hey, the desert heat is fierce. We navigated up and down the rolling dunes, past oryx wandering among the firebush and acacia trees, and a lone gazelle by a small waterhole. We were looking for some of the desert wildlife that have come back since 1999, when almost 100 oryx were re-introduced at Al Maha.

"Arabian oryx, which were nearly extinct 50 years ago, now number about 280," Gavin said. "And we're seeing species like the Arabian wildcat and red fox."

Ethiopian hedgehog, Arabian hare, various gazelles, reptiles, snakes, desert monitors, lizards - 33 species of mammals and reptiles indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula - have all returned on their own.

"It's all working," Gavin said. "We're doing something right if the animals are coming back."

Al Maha's 12-person conservation team wants to breed other indigenous species, such as hyena and Arabian wolf, and plant native vegetation, but information is scarce since there were no scientific guides before 2001.

"The best source would be Israel," Gavin said ironically, "but we can't ask them."

The additional 2003 government land grant came with guidelines: no roads, no building, no water drilling, limits on the number of people and vehicles in the DDCR, and on activities that stress the habitat, such as camel farms and irrigation farming. Moreover, Gavin explained, it is zoned for specific uses: One can only be visited on foot by researchers; another is for feeding and other habitat programs; a third is for hotel guests; and the last is a special high-impact area where only four registered Dubai tour operators can take non-hotel guests for dune drives, desert barbecues and belly dancing entertainment. To fund this far-reaching conservation effort, Emirates put up $4 million for five years and the government contributed $7 million for fencing the DDCR. Five percent of the total revenue from the resort is put directly back into conservation work, which makes staying at the posh resort a bit of a civic duty.

Back at my chalet, lolling on the canopied deck by the plunge pool, gin and tonic in hand, the tawny desert stretching out to the horizon, it occurred to me that I may well be at that magic oasis of long ago.

IF YOU GO

At Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, suites start at $1,300 in high season, dropping to $700 in summer, and include full board, complimentary laundry and on-site activities, such as guided desert safaris, archery, falconry, camel trekking and horse riding. Call (800) 745-8883 (Leading Small Hotels of the World); or book online at www.al-maha.com.

Getting there: Emirates Airlines, (800) 777-3999; www.emirates.com. The airline has just launched its second daily non-stop flight between New York (JFK) and Dubai.

Joan Scobey is a freelance travel writer.

© Copley News Service