Animals and the Mountain!

Continues from Palm Jumeirah

We were not so particularly enthusiastic to visit Al-Ain wildlife Park and Resort located at the outskirts of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. However it was strongly recommended to us by our hosts as it might interest Shreya. 

The travel to Al Ain from Dubai was so tedious. Our GPS navigator took us through some routes where we got entirely lost. Once again, sign posts and intuition came to our rescue

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It was about noon as we reached Al Ain. When I saw the scorching sun outside, I felt like watching the wildlife Park and Resort only from the reception counter itself. However little Shreya got enthusiastic and we had no other option than to walk.

Al Ain is an open wildlife park, where animals walk freely in a vast area. They are not in a cage but in man made habitat for them. The 400-hectare (988-acre) wildlife park had opened in 1969 and is now house for many endangered species. As we’d stood near the sign post we wondered on which direction to take! There is a reptile house, bird sanctuary, Big Cat house, Nocturnal home, monkey compounds and aquarium. Further, there are animals from all around the world.

It was then we spotted the zebra train. Marked in black and white lines, the train took us for a free safari in the wildlife park. The train journey was so short but, we could grasp a glimpse of the wildlife park. We decided walk!

Addax

Little Shreya was so enthusiastic than us and she guided us to each of the animal habitats. It was so tiring for me to walk long distances, but I kept pace with her. However it was a treat for me to watch the bath of the white tiger and the bird house. Also it was quite a scene when the desert antelope Addax posed like the ’Great Prince of Forest’ in Bambi.

A lady stopped us as we got out from the bird house. She was so enthusiastic to describe the details of the Arabian leopard in the habitat before us. My first instinct was to avoid her in suspicion that she is trying to mint some fees for us. However, thanks to the consent of Sreejith, she started her narration.

Arabian Leopard

The Arabian Leopard in the habitat, whom we’d mistaken to be a cub, was actually a grown up leopard. They will grow to a maximum weight of 30 kg (66 lb) and are much smaller than its contemporaries in the world. They are basically solitary animals who come together only to mate. They live basically in mountains and hunt on small animals. We were somewhat shocked to hear that we are seeing one among the last 200 Arabian leopards in the world.

The lady stopped her passionate narration telling that they are trying to find a female mate for the one in front of us. I doubted that she is planning to ask some donation for that venture. But she got into her zoo cab and waved us good bye. 

We came out of the wildlife park by 5p.m that is after getting into it before three hours.  We should have got into the park by early evening so that we could have enjoyed the wildlife park without much tiredness. We were planning to return, when we remembered another place suggested by our host-Jebel Hafeet Mountain.

We were actually in double mind to go to this place. However our passion for heights, took us to the road towards mountain. We would’ve definitely missed one of the panoramic scenes, if had opted otherwise. 

A view of Jebel Hafeet Mountain

Elevated to the height of 4,068 ft (1,240 m) the mountain offers a stunning view of the city. It was getting dark as we started our drive towards the top. However we got a chance to stop at the Emergency Stop spot and took a snapshot.

It was really dark within the time we passed the 12 kilometres to the top. As we got out of the car, chilly wind rushed past us. We couldn’t locate much of the unfamiliar city that lied beneath us. However, the view of the city decked up with night lights was just mind-blowing. However we couldn’t spend much time there, since we weren’t prepared for the chilly weather out there.

During our drive back down we chanced to view the entrance to the unique mountain oasis resort Mercure Grand. We fought our strong desire to enter the same since we were running short of time. The drive back to Dubai was less hectic than the drive towards Al Ain. 

Tomorrow there is much more to do and the much exciting part of Dubai trip is still waiting!

Continues in The World of Architectural Wonders