Abu-Dhabi-do look beyond the excess

Abu Dhabi has a lot more going for it than just giant shopping malls and attracts more visitors than India. Brian Canty checks out the Ferrari theme park and a desert safari.

THE plane banked hard to the right as it started its descent. I pressed my face hard against the elliptical pane of my window seat, as I peered beneath the wing. I couldn’t see much except for an ocean of sable desert, darker than the sky.

After a few minutes a scattering of lights appeared, tiny little pin pricks in the liquid sheet of black. Then suddenly, a bright glow erupted, first formless, then mushroom-shaped and in a moment, the city became visible, brilliant bright lights of downtown Abu Dhabi feeding into a long radiant strip, flanked by mammoth hotels, mega structures, and stunning wealth.