Al Ain Zoo

Yesterday we headed off for our first visit to Al Ain Zoo, and being that it is the middle of summer and 40+ degrees, it is only open from 4pm. It isn’t too far from home (the same for most things in Al Ain) and right beside my work and was a nice afternoon to go as it was overcast (while driving there we got one of our first Al Ain rain showers). So was it only silly westerners that head out to the zoo in mid-summer? Not at all. There was a nice mix of Emirati’s, Omani’s, with the odd western tourist/local thrown in.

The zoo has been undergoing major redevelopment so at the moment it is about half the size it used to be. Added to this to entrance fee has increased for 2 to 10 Dirham, which still makes it a very cheap way to pass the time. It really is a nice zoo as zoos go with big new enclosures and all the animals looked well taken care of. Unlike Doha Zoo, in Al Ain many of the enclosures have glass viewing windows rather than bars which keeps the animals removed from the viewing public. Another of the aspects we really liked were the intermittent fine sprays of cold water along the walkways which not allows the viewing public to cool off, but quite a few of the animals as well.

There is something to be said for wandering around a zoo at dusk. This one has the added advantage of having Jebel Hafeet in the background, which just adds to the overall atmosphere of the place as night slowly falls. About 8pm there was a hunting bird and snake show (with a rather cute little mouse that was not food). It was nice to see the Falcons and Owls just doing what they do without it being a circus sideshow. We even patted a rather huge and scary looking snake (I have left K and A’s hands in the shot for proof). Strange how it takes moving half way around the world to actually touch a snake!