Two atmospheric videos from the recent WOMAD festival in Abu Dhabi, courtesy Arasan822 who has posted a delightful clip of the Robert Plant guest appearance, and Oumick who has brought us a great video, displaying the dancing skills of Youssou N'Dour.
First, Robert Plant with Uldeh Camara, Justin Adams and other musicians:
and now, strictly come dancing! With the great Senegalese Musician turned world superstar, Youssou N'Dour.
Abu Dhabi's 'Desert Islands' is due to open for tourists this October. It consists of eight islands and an onshore gate just off the coast of Jebel Dhanna, a 250 kilometre drive from Abu Dhabi city.
Guests will be able to enjoy a number of adventure activities including 4x4 guided tours of the Arabian Wildlife Park, hiking trails, mountain biking and snorkelling; the waters and coral reefs around the resort are notably rich in marine life.
Take a look at this interesting video clip, posted by bennihana79, showing the centuries old sport of camel racing in Abu Dhabi.
Since 2005, the sport has a modern twist and uses small radio-controlled robot jockeys. The robots have replaced the small children who traditionally rode the camels as they raced at up to 30km/h; that's a long way down at that speed and has to rate as an extreme sport! I like the 4x4s racing around the track to keep up with the camels. And what's the deal with the two guys who decided to give their camel a head start?
A United Arab Emirates car licence plate goes up for auction on in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The plate is simply '1' and is expected to sell for $20m, which would be a new world record. I once used to see a Rolls Royce with the memorable number plate, '14 ME' and then one day it was parked next to a Rolls Royce with an even more memorable number plate, '14 U2'
If, as expected, the licence plate does set a new record, then the UAE will be home to the seven most expensive car licence plates in the world. More
Work has begun on the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free, city in Abu Dhabi. Called Masdar City, it is estimated that it will take eight years to build and be home to 50,000 people.
Plans are in place for most of the city's power to be obtained from solar energy and residents will be able to move around Masdar City in travel pods running on magnetic tracks. More information.
