Desert diary

I reached a spot in the middle of the desert in Dubai, some four kilometres away from human habitation. Spring was giving way to summer. At noon, the temperature was almost 40 degrees Celsius.

I was feeling uncomfortable in my full-sleeve shirt, but had to keep it on to avoid sunburn.

I was walking through Dubai Municipality’s Nature Reservation Area No 3, located on the west of the Al Faqa-Dubai-Al Ain border, seven km from the highway.

Established in March 2003 and spread over an area of over 16 hectares, the site was surrounded by the local ghaf, samur, garath and acacia trees from Australia. There were over 560 plants, some reaching a height of four metres.

All plants were irrigated from an overhead tank. There was an eight km track for the tanker.

On seeing my car, the first animals that took flight were a pair of Arabian gazelles resting under a water tank.

They headed towards the ghaf forest where a dozen camels were grazing. As I entered the place, I saw half a dozen crested larks busy singing, oblivious to the rising desert temperature.

But then, I realised that the temperature a metre or so above the ground was five to six degrees Celsius less than the surface, perhaps because of a soothing breeze blowing over the region.