Mini Post - A Pictorial Study of a Pretty Awesome Birthday Party

On Friday we all went out on a DhowBoat for my birthday. Another new staff member, Doug has his birthday on the 19th and so we had a combined do. Doug is blessed with the best set of leadership skills i have ever seen and organised the entire thing - it was wonderful! I was in charge of the food, but he organised the boat and the alchyhol and the taxis and other stuff. We left from the Corniche at 2 (A waterfront boardwalk area) and chugged out to a scrap of shells and sand, went to a different island and after it got dark did our best at using the BBQ to make dinner, before returning to the docks about 8pm and going back to the compound to continue the party.

Birthday Doug and Me

Our Dhow

Loading up!

The Docks

The Docks looking back to the CBD 

Lovely shot looking back at the Islamic Arts Museum (on the left) and
the Corniche (which stretches along from the museum to the right)

The Party Crowd!

On our way to the first island.

Me leaping into water that is warmer than I like my baths.
It's also overly salty - your eyes BURN and you really need sunglasses. Fun though!

Swimming.

Beginning to BBQ - the tiny grate at the bottom end was all we had to cook on - about big enough for 3 patties.
There were 25 ppl on the boat.

Not the best photo, but it is a good one to show the unusual skyline of the city. You can see the CBD to the left and then a very flat piece of land goes between that and west bay to the far right which has all the big name hotels like the Intercontinental, Four Seasons and Mariott. I live behind the main CBD about 20 min drive inland (on a good traffic day)

Just before we docked.

 All in all it was pretty much the best birthday party ever. AND i already have two cards! The only hiccup was I woke up the next morning without my precious Ray Bans. I rang the taxi and the boat and the english barrier got no results. In fact i almost booked the boat again by accident! So I caught a taxi back to the Corniche and they were tucked down the back of a seat. HUGE relief! Considering buying a cheapo pair for those times when I am not at my most responsible!