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Will Pardoe البدوي البريطاني

@_whereswilly

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🇦🇪 Sharing the UAE hidden in plain sight
🏝️ Building Villas in Zanzibar
🗺️ Hitchhiked & Sailed 7 Continents
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Off the plane and onto a camel to come first place in the Al Wathba finals! 🏆

I played the race as I wanted to, but there were many synchronicities that made it happen. To begin with, I had no camel. He was injured. When I spoke to our leader, he said inshallah another one was coming; it was my luck. And my luck has been full power lately, so I was happy enough with his answer. "Trust in God, but tie your camel". Well I had no camel, so I had one thing to do.

The replacement arrived, and they said inshallah another one will come in time. That told me I had the bench camel - a dud. Hey, at least I had a camel now.

As we were heading to the start line they suddenly led my camel back into the pit, where I saw another camel waiting! I jumped off the dud and onto the chosen one. I discovered later that this camel was in the girls race, but had tripped over at the start. He was retrieved and recycled. This was my luck.

Back at the starting line, Hamdan the camel whisperer called out to me "Will! Two touches". Two taps to get him in the mood at the beginning. A new strategy - I liked it. And then the gate flew up and we were racing! Two touches. I'll let you watch the rest of it. The commentator was hilarious, I think they liked my misspelled name - William Barodi. Mr Gunpowder.

Massive thanks to everyone at @hhcgovae for giving us the opportunity to compete in such epic events. And for everything they have added to my life through this. My deep gratitude goes to Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan for hosting us, and for his extraordinary generosity. الف الف الف شكر و جزاكم الله خير taken in Al Wathba Camel Race Track by @_whereswilly

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2 years ago

Heli jumps are SO MUCH MORE FUN than I realised!!

What an epic week @ekstremsportveko

I'm so grateful for this life.

•

#helijump #skydivevoss #innhopp #norway #ekstremsportsveko #skydive #dreamlife taken in Granvin, Norway by @_whereswilly

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2 years ago

UAE Flag Day 🫡 The home of my family for 40 years

الله كريم

الله يبارك الإمارات

#🇦🇪 taken in ميدان الرمايه by @_whereswilly

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2 years ago

Happy National Day to my friends in Saudi 💚

Earlier this year we were invited to attend a Hawaitat wedding in the Tabuk region. I don’t have words to do it justice so I will let the images do the talking. I will say that they welcomed us with open arms and open hearts, of course, and we left Saudi in awe of its people and landscapes.

There is so much more to share from our days among the Howaitat. I’ll post more of Tabuk in the following days.

📸 Some epic shots by @astoll3 taken in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia by @_whereswilly

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13 days ago

To my man so gentle, loving and caring. Happiest Birthday to you my love. I amazed to meet a person like you. To everything you do, how you think about the future while not forgetting to live life with your surprise adventures everyday. Thank you for showing me fear is just an illusion. Thank you for filling my life with love, laughter, and unforgettable memories. I love you so much ❤️

I appreciate how compassionate you are. I wish you all the best and I’ll be here with you through good and challenging times. I believe that you can do everything impossible. You will succeed in life and I can see that from what you do everyday. Lots of love xxx by @_whereswilly

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3 months ago

Happy National Day 🇦🇪 عيد الاتحاد مبارك

Photo from the Dubai Police Shooting Championship, which I was invited to by the Hamdan Heritage Center. The leader Rashed was happy with what he saw and told me to train for the championship in 3 weeks. One day when I was shooting well, Rashed was feeling proud and told me to come in kandora from then on. He also gave me a name - Al Shehhi - for how I wore my ghuttrah. I’m certain I came last against the Emirati and Omani police, but I won a name! 😂

Although I’m albino I am proud to wear kandora, for it represents the country I was raised by, the land that forged who I am, and the people whose soul I share if not my blood.

#MyDubai
#عيدالاتحاد taken in ميدان الرمايه by @_whereswilly

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10 months ago

2nd Place at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Festival, by a whiskerrr!

What a finish, coming up from the back of the pack again to surprise Skander in the last millisecond. We didn’t even know who’d taken it until we saw the playback (you can see the moment later in the video)

Namoos to David for 1st Place! You had no competition 😂

Thank you to the Hamdan Heritage Center for training us to participate in the national sports of the UAE, for inviting us to all these incredible events and for preserving and sharing the deep culture of our beautiful country 🇦🇪

الله كريم

📸 Video remixed from the original of @hhcgovae taken in Al Wathba Camel Race Track by @_whereswilly

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10 months ago

Habibi I’m home! 🇦🇪

#iykyk taken in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by @_whereswilly

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10 months ago

Living a life in Zanzibar I bow down to thank God for every single day 🤲

Every day is an adventure! Every day is a blessing. I’m in awe of this island and so inspired by its opportunities. It was a long and colourful journey that led me here and I am grateful to every one of you who shaped my path. That’s every one of you.

الله كريم taken in Zanzibar, Tanzania by @_whereswilly

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a year ago

From Arabia to Antarctica! Still totally speechless and mindblown. A far-off dream that popped up with the perfect crew and the perfect ship at the perfect moment (when the camel race winnings landed!).

Happy birthday to my co-pirate @suhailbilyeni!
Next bro, we go to the moon.

Film: @michalroots taken in Antarctica by @_whereswilly

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a year ago

Zanzibar is art 🎨 taken in Stone Town, Zanzibar by @_whereswilly

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a year ago

Serious question! Do you take your dreams seriously?

One of my dreams is to build a dhow in Zanzibar and sail the Arab world: around the Gulf, up the Red Sea and across North Africa to Morocco (and then to the South Pacific but we’ll cross that ocean when we come to it).

This was set in motion today with a simple meeting; a coffee with the shipwrights to discuss the design. The first step. And how exciting to take that step! To sit at the table with experts in this ancient craft, as countless merchants have in the past, discussing the ship that will write their history.

So this is one of my dreams. I’m in no hurry, but I’m big on setting opportunities in motion ready for when their time is right.

This is how I take my dreams seriously, and they have a habit of coming true - often through miraculous circumstances. The power of belief sets miracles in motion.

Which of your dreams could you take more seriously? taken in Zanzibar, Tanzania by @_whereswilly

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a year ago