Ezba experience: A magical glimpse into the private life of Abu Dhabi’s Emiratis

(CNN) — While modern Abu Dhabi can be defined by a space-age skyline and gigantic engineering projects, glimpses of the emirate’s traditional old world can still be found and — if you have the right guide to initiate you into the often private lives of locals — experienced by visitors.

One classic Emirati tradition is the ezba, a place that long played an important role in the lives of Abu Dhabi’s nomadic Bedouin tribes.

Not to be confused with a farm, the ezba was a place where families once raised animals — sheep, goats and native desert animals such as camels — and passed on skills to younger generations.

While modernization has slowly erased the need for the ezba, with many Emiratis now firmly at home in the UAE’s towns and cities, in the last five to 10 years the country’s government has sought to preserve this relic of times gone by.

And now it’s become an authentic way to show expats and tourists the ways of times past and the spirit of the Emirati people’s survival before the discovery of oil.

“Nowadays, with all of modernity around us, the UAE government made sure not to let this tradition die,” says Abdulazeez Manea, one of the young generation of Emiratis offering visitors to Abu Dhabi an authentic taste of local culture at his own private ezba.

At just 30, he is pioneering a new movement of young Emiratis who want to treasure their traditional ways.

“It’s a way to connect to history and culture, so the ezba serves that connection,” he says.

Stories and symbolism

Tourists and expatriates can now sample life on an ezba.

Abdulazeez Manea

They arrive in his quintessentially Emirati Nissan Patrol 4×4, which rolls up and down the dunes, giving his guests a taste of the lengths it takes to reach such a remote spot — one formerly reached only by camel or horseback.

Guests who come for the day typically join Manea on a walk through the sand as the sun is setting, hearing stories that form an oral history akin to the way tales were passed down from generation to generation by his ancestors.

They learn the symbolism of the majlis, or meeting place, and foods and drinks such as dates and coffee, which are synonymous with the ezba and Emirati hospitality.

Guests can also milk the animals, ride and interact with camels, and learn what it takes to care for the dromedary which was once the Bedouins’ only means of transport across the harsh desert terrain.

Before the discovery of oil in the UAE, family wealth was determined by animal ownership, Manea explains.

“Someone considered middle class would have 40 camels, while one was considered rich if they had 200-300. Wealth wasn’t currency but was measured in animals,” he says.

Visitors can learn the stories of Emirati life from traditional clothes — which they get…