Just one hour and a half from Dubai, Wadi Al Abadilah has everything that you’re looking for in a hiking adventure to start with as a beginner. It is a scenic hiking trail that surprises and entertains hikers every walk and every climb along the way.
In the spirit of #TheNewMe challenge, I have challenged myself with a new type of exercising outside the gym, which is hiking and planned to take it seriously. Having my husband as my adventure partner, we've shared the love of exploring nature and experiencing ourselves out of the comfort zone. So this time, we've stepped up our game to a brand new challenge.
We've always loved walking and hiking. We've done a few easy and basic hiking in England, Mauritius, Santorini and Vietnam. As I want to challenge myself to get better and bring out #TheNewMe, I've set myself goals for 2021 to be a new active life involving a lot more outdoor activities to engage with nature. My husband is a dynamic and sporty character so he's always up for new challenges. Therefore, we've done researches on hiking trails in UAE and decided to take on Wadi Abadilah as our first hiking for beginners. We want to prepare ourselves physically and mentally before taking it to another level of difficulty.
Hopefully, this blog will give you as much information as it can about this beautiful hiking trail that you can do with family, friends or children above 8 years old.
What to prepare beforehand?
I personally suggest you start hiking early, at 8 a.m. as the trail will get quite busy around midday or afternoon. Moreover, the earlier you start, the more cool air and warm sunshine you can enjoy. It's not too cold or too hot, just perfect!
Pack yourself some water, snacks, suncream, sunglasses, a hat and ideally, some wet tissues. There will be no 4G when you're in the valley, so it's better to download the Wikiloc app to your phone, choose the trail and follow the navigation. By the way, Wikiloc is a purchased app but the fee isn't expensive. Otherwise, you can follow the red arrows which were marked on the rocks at the hiking trail or you can ask other hikers along the way if you're unsure.
Please be mindful of protecting nature by not littering and keeping wildlife the way it is when hiking.
To get there, just put "Wadi Abadilah entry point" on Google Maps and it will lead you directly to the free parking area to park your car and start hiking from there. Click here for the Google Maps link.
Most of all, prepare mentally that it's definitely not a flat trail. It's a very rocky hiking trail involving climbing onto quite steep and slippery rocks at some parts. You will sweat and your feet will get tiring and wobbly in the end but it's a scenic and worthwhile hiking trail overall; still easy level.
What to expect besides rocks?
You will see some lively nature such as ponds, palm trees, cacti, even flowers, plants, some dragonflies, frogs, little fishes, lizards and a little farmhouse growing banana trees. You'll get surprised how much cool air and winds you can get in the valley. It's really refreshing and lifting your mood.
This hiking trail will be a great adventure for family bonding with kids above 8 years old. There are parts that will be difficult for kids but surprisingly, I saw parents with 4 or 5-year-old kids conquering this trail; that's impressive! However, it depends on how far you decide to go. The beginning might be a little scary as the steps are quite steep to go down to the valley and there's a rope that you can hold. If you take the right-hand side path, there's a safety fence but don't lean on it because the fence isn't strong enough.
My tips are to take time, be mindful of every step you take and enjoy the hike. I'm so glad that my husband and I did this trail together with our friends. We had such good laughs and great memories. It was the right practice for beginners to help us familiarise ourselves with hiking as well as start boosting our confidence to get ready for the next hike.
Conclusion
I've always asked myself the question "If not now, then when??" to get myself into the habit of doing something new and challenging myself to get better. Wadi Abadilah worths a great challenge to start with.
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