Beneath a canopy of stars
Moon Retreat, in the heart of the Mleiha desert, offers an out-of-this-world experience.
By Michelle Wranick-Hicks
Beyond the city of Sharjah, the landscape is vast and ancient. Limestone formations rise sharply from Mars-like reddish desert dunes, giving way to flattened, rocky plains. The setting is pristine, isolated, and quiet. There are no craters, but it feels unearthly, otherworldly—especially when the geodesic domes at Mysk Moon Retreat come into view.
Moon Retreat is the latest in Sharjah Investment and Development Authority’s Sharjah Collection brand, situated in the heart of the Mleiha region where archaeologists have discovered Bronze Age tombs, pre-Islamic forts, and stone tools dating back to the Palaeolithic period.
Nestled into the foothills of Jebel Faya, the domes—seemingly plucked from an extraterrestrial blockbuster—are designed to offer guests a “glamping” experience, but certain luxuries are withheld. There are no televisions or hairdryers. There’s no wifi or restaurant; there isn’t even a common area. The idea is for guests to feel as close to the experience of camping as possible, without giving up too many creature comforts.
Seemingly plucked from an extra-terrestrial blockbuster, the domes recreate the experience of camping in the desert, without compromising on creature comforts.
Not all luxuries are off limits. Each dome— there are 10 in all and six one– and two–bedroom tents—features a private bathroom and a spacious shower, air conditioning and a small fridge. There are no robes but there are white fluffy towels, tea and coffee amenities, a wardrobe to hang clothes, and even a yoga mat. A queen bed at the centre of the dome faces transparent panels offering views of the night sky and surrounding landscape. We are staying in one of five pool domes which also boast a private sundeck for sunbathing (or stargazing), a barbecue area and a temperature-controlled pool.
During the day, guests can explore the ancient sites of Mleiha on an organised tour, while those preferring to go off on their own can simply scan a QR code for a map of two short hiking trails adjacent to the resort. We set off in the late afternoon, trudging up steep, rust-coloured dunes to the wind-sculpted ridges of Jebel Faya, where we survey the landscape at a height. It’s a strange and breathtaking beauty with a muted stillness in every direction—just dunes, distant camel farms and the outline of a mosque on the horizon.
A mild wind stirs the leaves of a lone acacia tree, offering shade in the dunes below. A small, bleached bone, perhaps a tibia, lies half-buried in the rippled sands. For a moment, I wonder what other marvels could be discovered in these sands, but at Moon Retreat, the real attraction is in the clear desert skies above.
The bed faces transparent panels offering views of the night sky and limitless stargazing. Each dome features a living space in neutral tones, a spacious shower.
Next, we set about making fire the old-fashioned way, with flint. I thought we’d be bashing two stones together, similar to the flint tools found in Mleiha’s caves. But there are more modern ways.
“You can buy this on Amazon,” Moosa says, taking out a combination of flint rod and scraper to produce sparks.
Preparing a hollow in the sand, he pulls out another trick of the trade—cotton wool balls. “These catch fire really quickly,” he says, dropping one into the hollow and handing me the flint. But I can’t get the spark to catch. Moosa strikes it for me, and a tiny flame appears, to which we add kindling and dried roots foraged from the desert.
The desert out here isn’t particularly remote, and even if I were lost it seems it wouldn’t take long for a dune buggy or a camel herder to pass by. But there’s a tendency to treat the desert as a playground, and people often head out unprepared. Later that afternoon, speeding over dunes at the controls of my own buggy, my face full of fine sand as I took a curve too fast, I momentarily lost sight of the lead car. And I realised that, as much as this desert may be less remote than others, lose your wits for a moment and survival is a serious matter.
Could I survive the desert on my own? Not for very long, no. But what I have learnt is that even in January the sun is unrelenting, never to venture out alone, and always to keep an eye out for a landmark, a road, or the nearest settlement.
And I might also keep a lighter and some cotton wool in my pocket from now on, too.
The landscape is vast and ancient. Limestone formations rise sharply from reddish desert dunes.
Photographs by Juliet Dunne
