For the outdoorsy, mountain bike-mad Clayton Kensley, life as an activities coordinator on Sir Bani Yas Island couldn’t be more perfect
There’s no denying that the young, tall and tanned Clayton enjoys his job. He’s practically grinning from ear to ear as he meets us on the picturesque island that homes the Desert Islands Resort and Spa and a nature reserve.
Dressed in a typical safari shirt, stone wash shorts and walking shoes, the South African certainly looks the part. But even beyond his job spec, Clayton’s passion for the great outdoors is obvious.
“As a kid I could never sit still,” laughs the 25 year-old. “My dad encouraged my activeness; I remember always doing outdoors stuff with him, camping, day trips and biking – I loved it all.”
It’s this active upbringing that saw Kensley take up a career in tourism.
“When I came out of school I had no idea what I wanted to study until I found a course in adventure tourism management back home in South Africa – it was perfect for me.
“I was just finishing up on a job I was doing when a friend of mine in Dubai rang me up and asked if I was interested in a work opportunity over here on the island. So I thought, ‘sure, why not!’ It all happened very quickly, which was very exciting,” he says.
Having been with the DIRS team for two years Kensley, who’s permanently based on the island, admits that “no two days are the same” with his workload varying from season to season.
5.30am “It’s a bit of a weekend resort at the moment on the island, so Fridays and Saturdays are very busy right now,” Kensley explains. “I’m not always much of a morning person, but I am trying as I have to be up to get to the hotel and get everything sorted before the day begins, such as paperwork and preparing the buses for the day ahead.
“I like to start my day with a good breakfast, it’s good energy food,” he smiles, patting his less than bulging stomach. “I’ve got to start watching my figure, but I do love a cheese omelette and some sausages in the morning. We’re spoilt here as the chef makes our breakfast for us. We have a canteen, but the food is just as good as the food served in the restaurant at the resort,” he adds.
With a full stomach and prepping tasks out of the way, Kensley will spend with rest of his morning out with hotel guests leading activities such as nature trail tours.
“We normally do about three activities sessions each [there are currently ten guides on the team] in the morning when it’s busy. The early mornings are a great time for doing the nature trails, which is one of the most popular activities,” says Kensley. “I really like the nature trails too – I’m quite a talkative guide!” he laughs.
“It can be quite easy to get lost on the nature trails when you first start out – I remember deciding to try a new route during my first couple of weeks on the job; it took me three hours to find my way. Lucky the guests were none the wiser and we all had a good time,” he smiles.
Quick to admit he no longer gets lost, Kensley tells us that another of his favourite activities is popular during the mornings – mountain biking.
“Mornings are also the best time for mountain biking requests, especially when the weather is cooler. I love going on these bike rides, especially the longer routes,” he enthuses.
“I have a real passion for mountain biking and often compete in races when I’m not working so this is definitely another one of my favourite activities.
The island is amazing training ground for cycling. I’ve ridden bikes for quite some time now, but I never tire of it, and it’s fun showing people the diverse terrain on the island.”
12pm It’s already been an active day, but it’s only lunchtime for Kensley.
“We get a nice break in the middle of the day for lunch. It’s really not a typical nine to five job here and tourism is certainly not your average job, but I wouldn’t change it. I’m certainly never clock watching, we’re all too busy for that,” he laughs.
1pm Lunch over, Kensley is back outside with more activities planned for the afternoon.
“We normally do a further two sessions in the afternoon,” he explains. “As the day goes on and the temperature heats up, a lot of guests like to move on to water sports activities such as kayaking and snorkelling or choose something like archery.
“I really like archery,” he adds. “We have a variety of bows including hunting bows – not that we use them to hunt of course, although you’d be surprised at how many visitors do ask!”
8pm The days end close to sunset, creating a “better experience” for guests. In summer this can be as late as 8pm, while in winter it’s closer to 6.30pm when Kensley finally calls it a day.
“It can be a pretty long, tiring day,” says Kensley, “but every day is different. Weekends can be spent running back to back activities, while a quieter week day could be filled with keeping the maintenance logs and paperwork up to date,” he explains.
So what does he get up to if he gets to clock off work a little earlier? “You’ll find me with the group down on the beach either snorkelling or diving, or maybe chilling in the rec-room playing pool or watching a movie,” he smiles. “It’s not a bad life is it?” he asks, smilingly knowingly.
Final thoughts “People ask if I miss the city lifestyle but personally I’m not much of a big city guy. You can get a bit civilisation sick now and again; when I do, I head to Abu Dhabi to watch a movie on the big screen, but then I’m always happy to come back. There’s no experience quite like living and working on an island such as Sir Bani Yas. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”
Charlie Kennedy
