My Persian Prince

As well as having my Aunty and her daughter Zoe to stay with in Dubai, there was also Ras - who I gave the nickname of the Persian prince. He is a black persian cat. The name was perfect for him really. *Another perfect name is Ras the spaz. 

Being an animal lover, I was delighted to have an animal to annoy, even better he was extremely smoochy and enjoyed the attention. Having arrived at 1am, it was quickly off to bed after having a cuddle with Zoe and Ras for a well needed sleep. 

Ras showing Zozo how to use the buzzy bee

That is until, someone decided to sneak in to my room once I was asleep. I awoke to having this cat literally sitting on my head, his chin pressed down on my forehead purring away, his creepy little paw stroking my ear. This was the start of a love/hate relationship - to the point where my Aunty turned around and told me that hate was a strong word after I'd been telling Ras just how much I hated him one night. 

Ras being cute

There are cute things about Ras, like how his long black hair blows in the wind as he is chasing leaves around the courtyard to bring inside as presents for you. Or how he sits on the bath ledge when Zoe is in there, to keep an eye on things and occasionally falls in the bath himself. Or how he sits at the window watching the birds (or ants, or flies) with his bottom jaw trembling as he makes this weird noise. I also think Ras may suffer separation anxiety - as I type my blog he is either next to the computer, or asleep on my foot.

Ras my blog editor

Then there are the cute things that are also annoying. Probably the most annoying is that if I shut my door to try and get a cat free sleep, he will stand at the door and continuously meow until you let him in. Since I can't keep the room as a cat free zone, almost once a night I wake up hot and not being able to breathe, as in his attempt to cuddle as much as possible, he is asleep on my face.

Ras helping feed Zoe

Then there are just the straight out annoying traits. You can not leave any bags or boxes on the ground, as he will rummage through them all night. You can not leave a suitcase part open, or he will very loudly go in and out of it all night. You can not leave the wardrobe partly open or he will get inside it and knock everything out all night. You can not sleep in, he will come in to the room every half an hour after 8am and meow until you respond to him. Aunty Sue says this is him being calm. Before she had Zoe and he was alone all day, apparently if the cutlery drawer was open a little bit he would sit there and fling teaspoons out of it one by one. Likewise with socks in drawers. The Christmas tree decorations didn't stand a chance as you listened to them being bounced off the walls for hours at a time.

This brings me to the incident. I had been out drinking one night, and around midnight decided to go out on my balcony. As Ras was right by my side, I decided I'd let him out and turned around quickly to get my phone. In the time of me getting my phone he had run straight through the balcony (my room is on the second level) and on to the beams that went above the garages across all of the villa's. Great. How was I going to tell my Aunty that I had lost her cat. I crept in her room after failing to call him for 5 minutes, to tell her that he may or may not be here when she got up in the morning. She walked to my balcony, assessed the situation and said to leave my balcony door open and he'd be back at some stage. Hopefully. She went back to bed, but I just couldn't let myself leave him out there. How would I tell Zoe that I lost her first animal (something that I later got over)? After half an hour of calling him (probably much to the neighbours delight) I decided I'd just go out on the beams and get him. Having had to get him inside from the courtyard on previous occasions, I knew I couldn't go straight for him, I had to shepherd him in like a sheep. Thankfully this all went well, and both the cat and myself made it back inside safely.

The ledge that I had to walk along drunk at 1am

When Jess came and stayed (and got treated to the ear stroking etc) and saw Ras's behavior, she jokingly asked if he had Mummy issues. It all comes down to that I think. He was abandoned when he was 6 weeks old when my Aunty rescued him, so I think in the cat psychology world, he would have big issues and this would explain the separation anxiety and numerous other underlying problems there may be.

Playing dead again - different to previous blog photo.

Even though I tell Ras once a week that there is a "nice farm" that he can go and live on, or the other night when I tried to give him away to my friend, I think that the love/hate relationship tips more towards love and I will miss my little Persian prince as well when I leave.

Thought check 1.

Even though I have had a lot of thoughts written in my travel journal along my adventure, I am now caught up on my blog and feel that I can just write this without telling myself off for letting down any friend that might want to know about my travels. 

I have ten days left in Dubai. At the time I booked my flights it seemed like a date in the far distant future, now it is approaching I am not sure I am ready to go. Planning ladies night, Friday brunch, last minute sight seeing, a salsa lesson, girls night out for Carmen's birthday, plus probably throwing in another Tuesday ladies night, the time is running out very quickly. I think I am going to make myself leave Dubai with a major hangover so it will soften the blow of leaving at all (a theory tried and tested in Hong Kong). 

I am looking forward to getting to Jordan as that is at the top of my wish list of places to see (although that list is growing daily), but after Jordan it is back to real life and getting a job. 

It's very surprising, I have not worked for almost 4 months now, and I am still not bored. I am very content (when not exploring countries of course) with writing blogs, reading by the pool (I have read over 30 books since finishing my job... geek?), playing with my gorgeous cousin Zoe, keeping in touch with loved ones, and hanging with Jess when she visited in Dubai - I don't know how I ever found time to go to work each day? Let alone work a minute over my 40 hour week. 

Ras - the cat I almost gave away. Inquire within if you're interested. P.S. he's not dead, just pretending

I can't ever start to explain how gratifying it has been staying with friends and family on my travels, and the things that you have all shown and given me. It has It has been a great chance to live in Dubai with Aunty Sue and Zoe, watching Zoe grow with such a sparkle in her eye and teaching her to do high-5's. Something I will never forget. Aunty Sue didn't even get mad when I literally tried to give her cat away the other night. On top of that are all of the friends from around the world that I have made. You have all made my trip what it is so far, I couldn't have wished for anything more.

London is looking cold, and I don't think I have packed anything near appropriate to be walking around in single digit temperatures to job interviews. Oh well, let's hope I can impress them on my charm and great tan (and not get hypothermia). 

For some reason in the last week I have been missing the Cook Islands greatly. In saying that though, everyday I am missing my friends and family all over the world (and missing Sydney itself) and thinking back on great times. I guess this is all part of home sickness, and no doubt it will increase while I am in London freezing my butt off and looking for a job. I just have to keep looking at the things that are in front of me and if I don't like them, I know that I can always come back to those that I have left in the first place. 

Thank you all for following my journeys 

Stace xx

The Sandpit - Muscat, Oman

Tourist visa's in the UAE are usually for 30 days, but luckily for me, you are able to do border runs to Oman, which is only an hour or two drive from Dubai. Since I was going to need to do a border run, I thought I may as well go to Muscat, which is a further 4 hours from the border to the other side of the gulf. There are no hostel's around these places, but just as I have across the world so far, I had a family friend who lived there that I could stay with. I was heading there on a Thursday morning, as the weekend in Oman is Thursday/Friday. It's already confusing enough guessing what day it is not having to go to work, let alone planning it around a Thurs/Fri weekend in Oman, Fri/Sat weekend in the UAE and Sat/Sun everywhere else in the world.

The return bus fare was 90dhms (around $30AUD) and took 6 hours to get there. After a bit of a mission to the bus stop with the taxi driver dropping me in the completely wrong place I finally got to the right bus stop just before the 7am departure. Luckily the tickets were bought from the driver on the bus, otherwise I may have missed it if I had to run around looking for a ticket office. 


Being the only westerner on the bus (something I was now used to), the driver was really lovely and spoke quite good English, so with the stops at the UAE and Oman border, he came up to the desks for me and did all of the talking. I just stood there smiling sweetly to the guy, hoping he wouldn't notice that I had just winged the address on the Oman arrival card. I could hear "New Zealand" being thrown around the guys behind the big glass windows, and then I had to move across to another immigration officer. No questioned were asked and then the bus driver explained once I get my passport back that there was no fee on the visa for New Zealand citizens. From what my Aunty tells me - we are the only nation that this applies to. The border crossing in general didn't take that long, you had around 4 stops on the UAE, each time having to show your passports to soldiers (it says no photography at the border stops, I'd go along with that as well, as there are guys standing at each stop with big rifles), then you have to unload your baggage at the Oman border so they can search for alcohol. It is illegal to take alcohol in to Oman (but like the UAE you can buy it with a license). 

Desert shot from the bus

I found it quite amazing the different countries. The UAE is big sand dune and deserts, and once you near the Oman border, there starts to be mountains and rocks and no dunes. I managed to get a bit of sleep, so missed a lot of the drive to Muscat, but was very glad when I awoke and were from what I guessed was very close to being in Muscat. All the buildings seemed to be white, and none of them over a couple of stories high. All along the roads there was perfect green grass with gardens of pretty white and pink flowers, and big statues or sculptures in every round-about. We passed the new Opera house that was recently finished, and it was very amazing. Pene had seen a show there, and said that there were real horses on the stage. The Opera house was ordered to be built by Sultan Qaboos who has always been a fan of classical music and arts, so much so that for the first year and perhaps second year he is discounting the ticket costs so that people can also enjoy this. As you start to hear the history of Oman, one of the first things you realise that this is a country that really love their ruler. He ousted his father from power in 1970 after his father had kept a lot of money to himself and refused to modernise the country and almost completely closed to outside visitors. 

Driving past the Opera House

After arriving at the bus depot I was to go by taxi to meet Pene at a baby shower (a BBQ and bubbles type, not bibs and baby games she told me before I got worried). I asked the bus driver if it was anywhere near where we were, and him and one of the other drivers started pointing back towards the way I came. Confirming that I would need to catch a taxi I start to walk off down the road and began to worry as I noticed that the road was bumper to bumper and there was not an empty taxi in sight. Some yelling started in the direction I had just come from, so I turned around to find the driver calling me back saying "hop in the bus, I'll be 2 minutes". Not really sure what I was getting myself I hopped back on the bus and sat a few seats back so that would hopefully not give him any ideas. Soon we were weaving in amongst the traffic and he was yelling to someone out the window. Next thing we are pulling up and he'd taken me 5 minutes down the road, got me a cab and given the cab driver directions to where I was going. I was blown away with how nice this driver was from making sure I got through customs okay, to getting me a taxi. 


Meeting Pene at the baby shower, we got in to the bubbles and delicious food with Pene's work mates and I got invited to go camping the following weekend if I was still going to be in Muscat. How tempting it was (even if you had to dig your own toilets in the sand). After a few hours there we headed back to Pene's place and got ready to hit a new Irish pub. Not a lot else was remembered for the evening except it was a great night.

At Oman Dive Centre - this photo does no justice at all!

We awoke the next day after a nice sleep in and Pene took me on a tour of Muscat. She has lived there teaching for 11 years, so she knows the place pretty well. We first drove out to the the bay of Al Jissah which is home to the Shangri-La and surrounded by stunning mountains. Situated at Al Jissah is the Oman Dive Centre who have a bar and restaurant on the beach. Sitting there having a drink is divine with the clear bright blue sea with mountains and rocks jutting out of it. I would happily stay there forever. 

We then went along the coast past the Marina to the corniche area. Driving along I was noticing historic old forts above us - they are old lookouts that are scattered along the mountains that were used in past times for watching for invaders and keeping an eye on boats coming in and out of the gulf. It seems that every place you look in Muscat there is either history or beauty. 

Driving through one of the gates

As we pulled up at the corniche, Pene pointed out the Sultan's yacht that was docked up in the wharf and all of the old style boats that used to travel between Oman and Sri Lanka/India. Oman is known for it's gold and silver, and the best place to check this out is in the souk (market) across from the corniche. As I had seen my fair share of souks in the last few weeks, we mainly just strolled though ignored all of the guys inviting us to check out the pashima's, frankincense, perfume oils, traditional Omani hats and everything else they had to offer. The jewellery is what I was interested in as the gold and silver souks are unlike anything else you will come across. I found to be very shiny and bright, and not really my taste, but it was still interesting walking through and seeing it all. I managed to find a ring and happy with finally getting a purchase it was time to head to the juice bar in front of the souks and get an amazing mixed fruit juice. Add a bit of vodka and that would win awards! 

Down at the Corniche

Walking around the souks

The next day was back to Dubai for me, taking the 3pm bus, it took a lot longer than my original trip. Multiple stops (probably over a dozen) and doing a bit of back tracking at the border mixed with traffic made the trip around 2 hours longer. 


All in all, I have to say Oman has captured my heart, and is one place that I can't wait to get back to and see more of. Doing it next time I will explore the forts and wadis, head down to Masirah Island and see if there really are all these turtles that people talk of, and travel from there right down to the southern town of Salalah, which has a rain season leaving it as a garden oasis with lush green trees amongst picturesque mountains. I might even consider camping and having to dig my own toilet in the sand (please don't remind me of scorpions Aunty Sue!).

The Sandpit - Abu Dhabi

Since Abu Dhabi is only an hour and a half drive from Dubai, you can easily go and check it out for a day trip. Sue, Zoe, Naomi, Casey and myself set off for a day trip to check it out and play dress ups at the Grand Mosque (ladies have to wear an abaya and shayla).

Arriving at the mosque

The drive to Abu Dhabi was not as exiting as ones out to Al Ain or Barracuda - there was not a camel in sight. The Grand Mosque looked extremely grand as we approached it, tourists buses flooding the car park and seeing all of the people walking around outside it taking photos. The mosque is the largest one in the UAE and it is very impressive to be standing in front of.

Finally since arriving in the sandpit, I was dressed up in an abaya and shayla. The novelty wore off after five minutes, the abaya amplifying the sun to be my own personal sauna underneath it, and the shayla trying to fly away at any hint of wind, and unluckily for us, it was quite a windy day. We were warned that it was ten minutes until the mosque would be closed for the prayer call, so we rushed with the thousands of other people to the main prayer hall. Everyone has to take their shoes off, so that it doesn't wear out what is considered the world's largest piece of carpet, made of 35tonnes of NZ and Iranian wool while you walk under the massive chandeliers made of millions of Swarovski crystals. The hall was roped off with a walk way, so everyone was fighting for the best photo spots. 

Zoe frolicking on the carpet, wondering who was who

After ten minutes, we were ushered out of the hall and to our disappointment we were informed that the whole mosque was closing for the duration of the prayer call. This presented a great opportunity as we took our time at the back of the crowds and were able to get some photo's that didn't include every other tourist and their dog. We started to sit on the pool's out the front of the mosque waiting out the half an hour so we could go back in and get more photo's, but after sneaking down the side and getting the photo's we wanted, we were able to head off to grab some lunch. 

We drove down to the corniche (the beach area) and past The Emirates Palace, which is the second largest hotel ever built. If only we were staying there the night! Then it was to Marina Mall as we sat there eating our lunch looking back over the Abu Dhabi beach and skyline. Abu Dhabi is set up a lot better than Dubai, with a grid set up and everything more compact. The buildings were nowhere near as big and impressive as Dubai, but definitely glad we had the road trip up there. 

Random/impressive building

The Sandpit - Desert safari

When Jess decided that she was going to come and stay with me in Dubai, she had 3 requirements. 1. Spend quality time with myself 2. Time in the sun 3. Camels.

The first two were easily enough done, but with the third requirement we had a couple of options. The thought had crossed my mind of telling her that you didn't need to be conservatively dressed in Al Ain and to take her to the camel markets. Tall, blonde and attractive, surely if I worked on my negotiation skills I could get 3 fine racing camels in exchange for her (my Aunty was offered 2 camels for myself when we had visited previously)? The other option was to do a desert safari. Since we are going to be living together in London and I might get lonely without her (plus I don't think I could get the camels cleared through customs), I thought it best to stick to the desert safari. 

We had been searching the coupon websites and finally one came up on Living Social that we were happy with, so Jess, myself, Gareth and Sam booked it. We ended up saving around 80% - so it's worth keeping an eye out for them if you are interested in doing one. 

The safari we went with also included a small tour of Dubai, so we went and took the token tourist shots outside Atlantis, Burj Al Arab and then to Deira and cruised across the creek on a boat. Now it was time for the real fun to get started. 

Gareth the tourist

Jess and I at the Atlantis - being tourist

The dancing guys at the safari camp

After what felt like forever we finally arrived in what looked like desert. We stopped at a shop, for no main reason, but to trap tourists in to buying overpriced souvenirs. Tourist like us. Jess and I went in to the bathrooms to get changed in to our jeans and walk out and the boys are getting ghurta's (head scarves) and igal's (black ties that go around the head scarves, that can also be used to tie camel's front legs together so that they can't run away from you). When the shop assistants realised that we were with the tourists they'd suckered in we were quickly fitted with white head scarves - something that I am pretty sure the women don't wear at all. Oh well, who doesn't love a bit of dress up here and there. 

Stupid tourists! WAIT! That's us... oops.

Sitting at the shop, we wondered if this was where the safari was about to begin and we were dune bashing next. There were a few worried looks as our group of 11 climbed back in to the minivan and started to head off road. There were a few close calls as we were driving on soft sand next to a concrete wall and the back end started to slide towards it, but all of a sudden we popped out on another motorway. Let's hope that wasn't our dune bashing experience. 

We pulled up off a side road and suddenly three 4wds appeared. Yes, this was more like it! The 4 of us plus another couple got called over to one 4wd and we all piled in. I am not sure if taking the very back seat with Sam was a wise move. They seemed to be the seats where if we hit a dune hard enough and got air, it was only our heads that banged the roof. And I was sitting next to the person who liked to bait the driver to be going harder, faster and higher. The main thing I was thinking was "where do I hold!" I didn't want to hold the roll cage in case we did roll and my hand got crushed (ridiculous thought, I know). It also didn't help that Sam seemed to get the giggles when he was nervous or scared. The dune bashing was an amazing experience and we were really disappointed when we pulled up to the camp we were spending the next few hours at. 

One of the other 4wd's in our group - we were the cooler more adventurous in our car though

Backseat bandits - prone to hitting our heads

The camp setup is where all of the different tours meet up. The boys had expressed an interest in hiring quad bikes (at extra cost) and taking them out on the dunes, but once we got there they were just little bikes to take around a track - they passed on that quickly. The set up was really good though. There were camel rides out by the quad bikes, with a never ending line, but we waited a couple of hours and rode the camels in the dark. Jess was happy, she got her camel fix. Inside the camp, there were chances to dress up in local dress, but the boys ended up buying their own dishdashas (and obviously already had the head wear). There were food stalls, chances to get henna, sheesha dens, and in our true form, we found a bar and managed to buy a bottle of vodka. There were a few local dance shows, and then a big BBQ with more dancing shows afterwards. 

Old mate wanted a photo with us and our head wear

Got schemed in to having a photo with the falcon

Our 4wd driver came and found us and told us it was time to return back to the 4wd and then on to the van. A bottle of vodka down, plus beers, we were a lot more game than earlier in the evening, and our driver sensed that. We were getting sideways all over the place, even flying past other 4wds that were going back to the vans. Dune bashing in the dark and half drunk is a whole lot more fun! 

Is it a sheikh? is it a ninja? Noo noo noo, it's just Sam and Garrreth in their new purchases. 

With Jess happy she got to pat and ride the stinky camel, it was back to Barasti to finish the night off. Another great day in the sandpit. 

Weird fact: Arab camels only have 1 hump. Doesn't make for a very interesting song of "Alice the Camel"

Jess and a camel. Requirement 3, check! 

The Sandpit - My 27th birthday in Dubai

6 January 2012

If you read anything about Dubai, it will more than likely say that Friday brunch in Dubai is something of an institution. The summary of a Friday brunch, is restaurants provide all you can eat and drink (prices vary between restaurants and if you have soft drink or alcohol) usually between the hours of 12.30pm to 4.30pm. 

View from The Observatory

My stars must have been aligned - luck had it that my birthday this year fell on a Friday, and my bestie Jess would be in Dubai with me that week. After much researching online and from Dubai brunch connoisseurs, we decided on going to The Observatory, at the Marriott Dubai Marina. It was 450dhs (around $120AUD) and well worth it! 

We arrived to be greeted with a glass of bubbles, and shown to our table to be met by our friends Gareth and Sam who had already arrived. Eager to go off and explore we grabbed our wines and ventured clockwise around level 52 to see what The Observatory had to offer. Where to start! There were buffet stations with seafood's, meats, desserts, salads, cheeses (to Jess's delight, I am sure she got cheese on every single plate she came back with), then stations where you could choose lobsters, prawns, salmon, fish, scallops and more cooked to your liking plus an a la carte menu on top of that with steak and pasta and other items I forget. The list I have provided does not give the food any justice either. There was everything you could imagine. And then the drinks. On top of the bubbles being topped up every sip you took, and being able to order anything you wanted, there was also a mobile cocktail station that went around the room - although it spent most of the time in front of our table as we refused to have anything less than 4 drinks at 1 time. 

Lobster!

Singing and clapping and cake

The standard drinks for our table

Sneaky Jess had emailed the restaurant the previous day and arranged a birthday cake, it was such a surprise, and after I got over being angry at her admitted that it had turned it in to a proper birthday for me. After we had eaten ourselves stupid, we moved around to the other side of the restaurant where there were tables set up to look out over the marina and the palm. Jess and I gasped as we saw a skydiver plummeting towards the earth, then at the last minute suddenly slow down and land perfectly. We had thought we were about to witness someone dying! 

We had all thought we wouldn't make it past 4pm (Gareth had been passed out at 3.45pm for his birthday brunch!) and when it came to 4.30 it was time to decide what to do next. I had been waiting to take Jess to Barasti, and since we could literally see it from The Observatory we decided that would be our next destination. 

Barasti turned out to be the perfect choice. We found ourselves a beach lounger and ordered 4 jugs of mojitos, and enjoyed the beautiful Arabian sunset. Once the sun dropped though, so did the temperature. We ventured upstairs to try and get a table, but the place was packed, so we were up to deciding where to go again. We had been at Nasimi Beach on New Years day and it was another place that I had wanted to show Jess. It is a beach club out on the plam at the Atlantis, and it was our next destination. 

Jess and I at Barasti

We got settled on our next beach lounger at Nasimi, complete with a bottle of grey goose vodka and a sheesha. All of a sudden I see a group of Russian girls (it was a themed night, apparently a big thing in Dubai as we'd almost ended up in a Persian night a couple of nights earlier) glowing as they were walking towards us. What was that they were singing and clapping to? And what what that glowing? It almost sounds like they're singing "happy birthday", and is that a cake with sparklers coming out of it? JESS!!! So thank you Jess for my 2 birthday cakes that day. 

Jess and  I at Nasimi

The Russians at Nasimi Beach

We managed to last until around midnight. Was not only one of the best birthdays, but one of the greatest days ever. Thanks Jess, Gareth and Sam!

The Sandpit - Al Ain road trip

Before living in Dubai, my Aunty had lived in Al Ain for 2 years. Al Ain is in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, about an hour and a half from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi towards the Oman border. It is interesting driving out there, passing the camel race track, massive sand dunes, and being able to tell when you cross Emirates because all of a sudden there are palms planted in the middle of the road to make the drive more prettier.Upon arriving in to Al Ain after traveling through mostly flat/duney desert, amazing rocks/mountains start to jut out of the sand. A very pretty change from the flat land we'd be going though.

Heading to the camel markets was first on the agenda, and you could tell we were approaching them as the number of camels in the back of ute's and small trucks were almost every second vehicle. Pulling up we were quickly pounced on by 2 local's eager to show us around. We were shown baby camels, big camels and they even felt the need to show us mating camels. I was ever so grateful that the 7yo with us didn't ask me what they were doing.

As we walked around all the different types of camels, ones for eating, ones for breeding (complete with live show) and ones for racing, we were allowed to stop and feed them. Oh, did I mention camels stink? Wish I hadn't taken to opportunity to pat them. I am sure the smell was just baked on me from walking around the markets anyway. It was upon standing there feeding the camel, that I became aware of a conversation going on behind me between my Aunty and the local guy. It went something like this:

Man: She have husband?

Aunty: No

Man: She have man?

Aunty: No she is mine 

*which of course, means that any deals can be done through her if anyone is interested in buying me

Man: Hmmm ok, you take 2 camel's for her?

Aunty: *long pause* no I think she is worth more than 2 camels, plus my brother wouldn't be happy if I only sold her for only 2 camels

My "almost" husband

I hope that they were at least fast racing camel's that he was offering. Also, can I just say, I think if he had said 3 camel's I would be married by now, and my Aunty would have three smelly camel's in her backyard. Thankfully the rest of the walk around the markets didn't bring any more offers of camels, goat or sheep. It was an interesting experience in seeing the local Emirate men driving up in their 4wds, and having the farmers leading the camels out in front of them to see if they liked what they saw, all without them stepping out of the air-conditioned car. If they like what they saw, a price would be agreed on and then the camels would be chucked in the back of a ute and transported to their new home.

Showing a camel to a potential buyer

After that we got shawarma's (local traditional sandwich's) and headed up to Jebel Hafeet, which is the second tallest mountain peak in the UAE, which looks out over Oman and Saudi Arabia, and also down to Al Ain itself. Unfortunately for us it was a very hazy day, and we could only see down to Al Ain.

Looking back over Al Ain from Jebel Hafeet

Final stop of the day was to the Al Ain zoo. The zoo was very nice, with a massive field for all of the African wildlife to run around on, and all of the animals looked happy and healthy. It was amazing the amount of lion's that were in the zoo, it seemed as though every second enclosure were lions. After seeing a plaque outside one of the enclosures thanking a Sheika for donating the lions from a personal zoo, it all seemed to make sense, most of these lion's would have also come from private animal collections, and then donated to the zoo once they had become bigger and more aggressive. Oh to have that much money to have pet lion cubs in your own personal zoo!