On New Year’s Day we take our traditional walk on the beach. However, this year there is no need for thermals and layers of warm clothing. The beach is beautiful, the sea calm.

Our intrepid 6 year old is off beachcombing as normal and makes the Tribe’s most exciting discovery to date – a paper nautilus. I had read about these and had learnt that they can be found (if you’re lucky) on Dubai beaches in February and March. They are beautiful, delicate, paper-thin shells made by the female argonaut octopus. The argonaut octopus is extremely rare.

The female can be up to 50cm in length while the males are typically only 1cm in length and do not produce a shell. It was only in May 2010 that researchers could finally explain the role of the shell – they discovered that as the female dives to

depths of 750m below the sea’s surface, trapped air from the shell is released to match its own density with that of the surrounding seawater, thus keeping it ‘neutrally buoyant’ and allowing it to swim easily; most other octopuses use a huge amount of energy moving about. The name paper nautilus came from the time of Aristotle when it was believed that the female argonaut lived in the shell and raised the web-like shell as sails as she sailed across the ocean. The role of the shell has been a conundrum until recently. Since reading more about this amazing creature, I realise how very fortunate we are to have discovered the shell and we now scour the beaches looking for another nautilus every time we are there.

Before we start back to school and work, we go on another camping trip, this time to Sharjah on the East coast . We find the new Sharjah to Kalba road which is barely used, to reach the East in a much quicker time. The road is in impeccable condition and goes firstly through the desert (camel spotting is our new car game) and then through the rock of the Hajar Mountains. The views are awesome and a complete surprise. We reach the beach at Khor Kalba and look for a pitch. It is busy with day

picnicers rather than campers – picnicing in the Middle East is a big deal and over the weekends wherever you are – beach, park, desert – you will see 4x4s parked up with rugs, shade, barbecues and glorious quantities of food being shared by extended families. Khor Kalba is the most northerly mangrove forest in the world and home to a vast variety of wildlife. Mangrove forests of the Gulf disappeared when the trees were used to make beams to support the roofs of forts, hence the importance of the remaining mangrove at Khor Kalba. The endangered white-collared kingfisher is resident here – there are only 55 pairs left and they are only found here. We didn’t see any on this trip!

We finally choose a spot at the end of the huge, wide beach, next to a breakwater and within 15 minutes we have made camp – this warm weather, no rain guaranteed, camping is a bit of a breeze! The Tribe are off beachcombing again and this time they again find more different shells one of which I later identify as the Venus Clam (Paphia textile, textile Venus). These shells are glossy and have an unusual netted pattern of shades of brown with zigzag lines and are about 15-20cm long – they are stunning and quite different to anything we have seen before.

As the sun disappears beneath the ocean we sit toasting marshmallows. Later, when the Tribe have gone to bed in their own tent, we listen to them giggling and telling stories to each other well into the night. As Father of the Tribe and I sit together with just the light of the campfire, stars and moon, we see the silhouette of what can only be an arabian red fox – it’s bushy tail definitely gives it away! Like our city foxes back home, these foxes have adapted and benefitted from the expansion of human habitation and will eat almost anything that they find. They are smaller and slimmer than our home grown foxes, with marvellously bushy tails and large pointed ears. They are very pretty!

The following ‘morning’ we are up in the dark and have breakfast sitting on the beach watching the sun rise. The Tribe have turned feral in a rather short time and the littlest, now that she is running everywhere (she skipped the walking thing) joins in with their exploration.   Before we leave, they find a number of sand starfish – our first starfish in the UAE – small, brown and not particularly exciting, other than the fact that they are starfish! As we are packing up, now that it is light, we notice a huge number of tracks around our tents – fortunately they are definitely not snake tracks, but I do wonder what various nocturnal creatures have visited us as we sleep.

As school returns, the pace of life quickens again and this term in particular is completely mad with an extraordinary amount of sport – it has to be packed in before the weather becomes impossibly oppressive. We also have more guests as Father of the Tribe’s father and partner visit from New Zealand. So, one weekend, together with our visitors, we are off on another exploring adventure. This time we head to Al Ain in Abu Dhabi – not the most exciting drive there, but we do see racing camels training at a racetrack being followed by their trainers and owners in their 4x4s.

We visit the wildlife park which is another happy discovery. It is linked to San Diego Zoo and has a fantastic array of indigenous animals as well as those from Africa and India.

We have never seen white lions before now and they are quite magnificent. The Tribe also get a lot closer to camels than they have previously been. We will have to return another time to see the white leopards. Before driving back to Dubai we visit Jebel Hafeet. It is a mountain in the middle of flat countryside. A road has been built up it – it is 11.7km long, climbs 1,219m and has 21 corners. It is also lit by street lights all the way up to the end where there is a car park and a palace belonging to one of the rulers. You might have seen the Top Gear crew driving up it. It is mad, bizarre and amazing and is frequently voted as the world’s greatest drive. We get out at the top and realise why there are people in woolly hats and overcoats – it is freezing! But the views are extraordinary and worth the goosebumps on our bare arms and legs!

The 6 year old turns 7 this month and we celebrate this year with an evening barbecue at Jumeirah Beach Park. The weather is somewhat cooler and although the Tribe have a wonderful time running about, exploring and playing, our guests are freezing and sit huddled in fleeces! It is a fun experience and definitely a change from the usual indoor celebrations. The highlight for me occurs as we are packing everything up. Out of the dark, 3 camels appear and are led past to be put in their pens for the night. The Tribe are delighted. As our visitors leave, the Tribe are struck down one by one by strep A – I finally have to find a GP and then following a late diagnosis for the 7 year old, I take details of the antibiotics I need to buy together with the dosage that she needs, over the phone. I hope to goodness that I write it all down correctly. I miss the NHS – we are incredibly fortunate having it in the UK and long may it last. So, another month ends as our adventure in the desert continues.

Mother of the ‘on the mend’ Tribe