Well, it is my second-to-last day here in the UAE and today I finally went to the zoo to see if it was as cool as I’d heard it was. It was! First of all, it is huge. When you come to live in Al Ain and get to know Al Ain you don’t expect huge to be the order of the day here. This zoo shocked me by just how massive it was!
The Entrance to the Al Ain Zoo
The next shocker was that this zoo looked basically brand new – everything was so clean and tidy. I’m not sure what I was really expecting, but I think I was mentally bracing myself for a grotty little pit of a zoo...after all, Al Ain has some of the scariest bathrooms I’ve ever seen, and I’ve used B.C Parks pit toilets!! This is a place to bring the family and spend the day quite comfortably and safely. Playgrounds, shaded dining and picnic areas, nature centres, clean bathrooms everywhere and GRENN GRASS! LOTS OF IT! I miss grass. Since I have a family I’m supposed to notice details like this! Aren't you proud of me Deirdre?! Apparently the zoo was built in the late 60’s but you couldn’t tell by what I saw! Best durham I’ve spent in the last 2 months!
A Map of the Zoo The "Train" in its cheezy glory
There is a "train" (actually a car done up to look like a train) that takes you on a 15 minute cruise around the entire facility...and it's free. It's a good way to get an overview of where you are going before you start wandering about on foot. I loved how it stopped right next to the snack satnd so guys could come out and sell us cold water, snack food, slushies, you name it...and I'm not being sarcastic here! It was really stinkin' hot! The water was awesome!
The gentleman in the photo is the Chief bird-handler and head of the program.
I have to admit, the best part of the entire zoo trip (and I didn’t even truly explore all of it) was the bird show that they do every day at 5:30. My family and I have recently turned into bird nerds and started bird-watching when we go out hiking and geocaching together. This show featured birds of prey, outdoors and right in front of you, live! Now, coming from a wee city like Victoria, B.C, Canada, I admit, I am not a zoo expert….I’m not even a bird show expert, but I’ll tell you this: you don’t need to be an expert to be amazed by this show! The chief bird-handler was a well-spoken, humorous and knowledgeable man and you could hear the love he had for these birds as he told us about them. Vultures, eagles and falcons were all there, flying between handlers, screeching into a mike, swooping and hitting dummy “rabbits”…all so close that sometimes you had to duck!
A Falcon, An Eagle and an Owl Hawk, all up close and personal!
A special moment for me: I volunteered to have one of the falcons land on my hand (which was safely encased in a thick leather mitt thank you very much - this thing had TALONS! It’s not called a bird of prey because it’s warm and fuzzy!). It was extremely cool to watch it fly in and land RIGHT THERE in my hand and look at me! I smiled like an idiot…must have looked like a typical schmucky tourist ...but I don’t care! When else am I going to have the chance (or even want to have) a falcon land on me??
Playing with the birds! Notice how I have the tiny falcon and he has the Vulture...he can keep it!
This is why! Drive by scavenging...and hope it does't clip you / bite you as it goes swooping past!
After the show, I was chatting with the chief bird handler. He told me that he’d put the show together in just 4 months! I had mentioned that I was from Canada and we chatted a bit about Bald Eagles for a while – I told him about Goldstream Park when the salmon are spawning – eagles everywhere! While we chatted, the zoo’s director, Mr. Mark Craig came over and asked what I had thought of the show. Some tea was brought out and there I sat sipping tea and talking about birds, education and eagles like it was the most normal thing in the world! Weird! Made me laugh afterwards…my wife is always struck by how easy it is for me to meet people!
Another Falcon and the Quickest way to carry multiple birds around...for those of you with multiple birds.
Anyhow, I took a lot of photos, recorded a ton of video for my son back home and hope some day to bring my family to see this amazing facility (the biggest in the gulf region)! It really is unique and a whole lot of fun...if you like zoos that is!
Assorted Critters at the Al Ain Zoo and the scenery surrounding it
Notice the lack of “wow” over the rest of the animals…they were very cool, but also very caged. It was not nearly so personal an experience taking pics over a fence! They ARE impressive, but don’t hold a candle to being able to see animals up close and personal! Now if the zoo only had a website, it’d speak for itself! Ihope they keep expanding and run a safari style tour instead. It would suit the character of the zoo much better.
My Street In Al Ain and my Apartment in Victoria...I'll miss the former a little, but I miss the latter A LOT!!!!!!
That’s all for now! Tomorrow I’m on a plane and heading home! See you soon Deirdre, Devin and Kira! XOXOXOXOX!