Wonderful Places to visit in the Summer
The summer was beating down hot in the UAE. I really wanted to go outside. But the question was where. So, I figured it was time to research. As i browsed further and further until I found two places where I thought we could beat the heat. And here’s a review on those places…
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1. Arabia’s Wildlife Centre
What better way to spend the a summer’s day spending time with animals whilst blissful air conditioning soothing us. That’s what this wildlife centre was in a nutshell. Part of the Sharjah desert park, this wildlife centre is bursting with life. From deadly predators to cut little flamingos, this place has got it all.
We first gazed at a collection snakes that inhibited the Gulf region. However, few of the displays were empty due to undergoing maintenance. To my fascination, there were few monitor lizards as well. However, they were too tired to put on a show as the snoozed in their artificial habitat.
As we moved on we came across few swimming turtles. What a sight they were. But the best thing I liked about this place was yet to come. It was the bird aviary. The aviary was a wonderful habitat for these creatures exhibiting various habitats like the Hajjar mountain ranges. With a walkway in between we marvelled at this birds and even few bats that were present further inside the walkway. That’s when I heard a weird sound. It were of birds fighting. It were two flamingos who were stealing the show with their unintelligible squawks, It seemed like they were pretty angry at each other.
Soon enough we saw few vicious big cats. No it was not a tiger or a cheetah. Instead it were few wild cats and a caracal. Their habitat showcased trees and much more giving them enough room for a walk. The caracal sure enjoyed walking in circles….
Next in line were a collection of scorpions. However, as exciting as they may sound many of their habitats were empty. I wonder if i was because of maintenance maybe. Moving on then we entered the rodents section of this thriving wildlife centre.
This place had effectively displayed the various species of rodents, many of which were seemingly new to me.
Next in line was the display of various animals in the desert. There was a cafeteria which has a glass surrounding it enabling us to have a splendid view of the ibexes, deers and the oryxes. My heart was down because I thought we had come to the end.
But, there was still a little segment left. It was of the lively troop of baboons and few more animals which I will come to later. These baboons sure did enjoy the spotlight as they sat near the glass munching on some fruits.
As we moved further down the corridor, we saw the big cats. It were the cheetahs, the leopards and the bears. All of whom were asleep basking in the sunshine. And this was where we had come to the end of the tour.
But this was the end of what the Sharajah Desert Park offered us. There were other places like the Children’s Farm, The Islamic Botanical Garden and also a museum.
I really enjoyed this place and a good thing was that we only needed one ticket per person to visit all these fantastic places. A marvellous place to visit at any time of the year.
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Things to know before you visit the place:
Entry Fee: Adult – Dhs15; Children (12 – 16) – Dhs5; Under 12 – free.
Also visit this website for further details: https://www.visitsharjah.com/en/activities/wildlife/arabias-wildlife-centre/
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2. Shajar, Sharjah
Another nature- thriving place to visit in the summer. Shajar in Sharjah. This place is part of the Al Jada community developed by Arada. And this place is the foundation of an ingenious idea. With no entry fee at all, this place offers a tour on a buggy where we learnt about how this place is home to rescued trees that were found in places that were undergoing urbanization. This place feature 4 stages. The first being production where young plants and seeds are planted.
This greenhouse showcased a variety of plants all within the ages of 1 to six months. They were cooled down by the air conditioning to allow smooth adaptation to the desert climate outside. Following this was the seedling part of the process where plants here were aged 6 to 12 months old. Here the plants were placed in a bigger green house to nurture them and to tend to their needs like water and space to grow.
The next part in this process was the sapling procedure where bigger pots where provide for these growing plants who would call this home for another year until they were on the move again. These plants soon grew into trees, careful nurtured by the people working there in order to make smooth transition for their stable growth.
And here was the final step of this process. These trees are now sent to find a new home to be part of landscaping projects for Arada developments.
But what I enjoyed the most of this tour was that we get to plant a Ghaf tree. This was an amazing experience. To grow the national tree of the UAE which gets to take part in landscaping projects.
I really like this idea and further enjoyed how carefully each stage was figured out. The end of the tour was the nursery where we were provided a bookmark per person with seeds. What better way to promote sustainability.
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Things to know before you visit the place:
Also visit their website for further details: https://shajar.ae/en/
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