Welcome back everyone!  This week I’m extremely excited to kick off a new series on a country and region of the world that was totally new to me – United Arab Emirates.  I’ve wanted to go to Dubai for years and years and finally got the opportunity to do so thanks to a work conference, and I made the most of my spare time while I was in the country.

One of the goals I had for visiting the Middle East for the first time was that I wanted to go out to see the desert, even if just a small portion of it.  Over the weekend that I had there I ended up taking a hot air balloon ride in Ras al Khaimah, which is the northern most Emirate state, a couple hours drive from Dubai.  A hot air balloon ride was also a first for me, and I have to say, it was quite amazing and peaceful!  I chose a sunrise flight in hopes of actually getting some good light to take pictures, and was not disappointed, which brings me to this week’s Picture of the Week.

As we were floating along over the desert, I was taking pictures of all the shapes and shadows of the desert beneath me, when I just happened to spot this person, literally in the middle of nowhere.  I have no clue where he came from and what he was doing out there, but when he started up the side of that dune I knew I had a shot to take.  The morning light illuminated him in an amazing way, as the shadows were still long from the dunes.

Below are some more images that I took from that flight.  One the first image, with the balloon shadow, let me call your attention to the top of the dune above the shadow.  Standing on top is a wild donkey that seemed to be showing us the way for a while as we moved above the desert.  It stood there and looked at us until we were nearly overhead, when it took off running.  In the other images you’ll find some of the shapes I was seeing, as well as more animals of the desert!

–Dan Thompson