Seven years ago, when living in the Middle East, my manager arranged for a day out, full of activities, for the whole department. I'm a sucker for outdoor activities and so for me it wasn't an option to pass a whole day, all expenses paid, at Wadi Adventure in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, with my coworkers.
After spending the morning whitewater rafting and a satisfying lunch, it was time for my colleagues and I to brave the midday heat and head over to the airpark.
The Log Swing
After following a safety briefing and putting on a harness and helmet, we decided to start with the log swing.
Sitting side by side in their harness, three people are secured to a wooden log which is suspended by 2 cables. Once the staff decides it's safe, the log is pulled back and up. When the maximum height, which sits at around 10m, is reached, the staff gives a count down from 3 and then releases the log. The people suddenly free fall for a split second before going into a swing movement.
You can see different expression on the faces at that time, such as shock, fear, exhilaration, joy, etc... You hear screams as well as laughter. In our case, most people were anxious but everyone enjoyed it.
Here's an unedited video of the same log swing which 
The Aerial Rope Course
The first of us to complete the log swing then moved on to the aerial rope course.
While being safely secured to a life line attached to your harness, you go through a course, jumping from a platform to another, walking on moving wooden logs, climbing ropes, etc... Again, a lot of fun for most of us.
The Zipline
Next step, the zipline. At the top of the tower, you are secured to the trolley by a rope on your harness and all you need to do is to take one step over the edge before zipping down the cable across the kayaking course. It's a short ride but still a fun one.
Just like the previous activities, we all had a go at it.
The Wave Pool
The airpark was a lot of fun, but we definitely lost a lot of body water perspiring because of the midday humid desert heat. What better thing to do next than just chill (or body surf 🙂) in the wave pool?
Every few minutes, a wave is generated at the end of the pool and so some of us (mostly me though) didn't find anything better to do than try to body surf it.
Of course all of this happened under the watchful eyes of the lifeguard.
Conclusion
What a great day of activities it was for my colleagues and I. Apart from the fact that we had fun while still being paid for the day, it allowed us to bond more and get to know each other better.
Wadi Adventure offers a team building package and I think it's a great way for companies to incentivize their employees while still benefiting from it.
A few more pictures of the place
And this is me signing off 7 years ago 🙂
