Many may have found their travel plans in disarray this summer, but you don't have to go overseas to find a little slice of paradise.
As restrictions ease in the UAE, with staycations on the rise and pools reopening at hotels around the country, a new beachfront destination has opened, bolstering the places you can catch some rays in the capital.
Soul Beach, a new attraction in the Mamsha Al Saadiyat community, opened to visitors on July 24.
The destination, located at Aldar Properties' beachfront development on Saadiyat Island, offers one kilometre of shoreline to visitors, as well as a 400-metre swimming zone in the Arabian Gulf and 400 sun beds set up along the sand.
Soul Beach will be open daily, from 8am to sunset, and entry costs Dh50 per person on weekdays, and Dh75 per person on Fridays and Saturdays. The price includes the use of a sun bed and a parasol.
To ensure social distancing regulations, Soul Beach can deliver food and beverages straight to sun loungers. Each table features a QR code, which gives visitors access to the menu. Orders can be made via WhatsApp, and will be delivered by buggy.
All sun beds are spaced at least two metres apart, with free sanitiser on hand for guests, while a lifeguard will watch the swimming zone.
The launch comes a week after hotels in Abu Dhabi were given the green light to begin reopening pools, after almost four months of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While it's best to check ahead for each hotel's safety precautions, hotels will be following guidelines set out by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT).
General guidelines include employees being tested for Covid before returning to work and then being tested regularly, guests bringing their own towels, and sun beds and loungers being placed two metres apart.
For Soul Beach enquiries, call 056 432 560
Racecard
7pm: Abu Dhabi - Conditions (PA) Dh 80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.30pm: Dubai - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m
8pm: Sharjah - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m
8.30pm: Ajman - Handicap (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,200m
9pm: Umm Al Quwain - The Entisar - Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 2,000m
9.30pm: Ras Al Khaimah - Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm: Fujairah - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
