Day 2 Al Ain – Garden City of the UAE

Having been to Dubai several times we were on the lookout for a different sort of tour.  Research had uncovered a day trip to Al Ain where we could visit the Zoo and see the white lion, drive to the peak of Jebel Hafeet Mountain, hot water springs, Al Ain fort, and the Archaeological park just to name a few.

We started off every excited about our day!

Saif our driver/ guide admitted to us that this was his first time taking a tour to Al Ain…  Little did we know that he was thrown into the deep end and really didn’t have a clue. 

It was quite a long drive out to Al Ain as it is situated near the Omani border and it is actually in the Emirate of Abu Dabi.  It is such a contrast and the first thing you notice is how green it is compared to Dubai, no wonder it is called the Garden City.  The weather was starting to warm up for a day that promised to be up in the high 40s.

Our first stop was the Al Ain Zoo.  Seems like everyone else knew what we didn’t …. Don’t visit a zoo in the heat of the day…..  just like the pub with no beer, we visited the Zoo with no animals…  well that is what it felt like…

It was pretty hot outside, and unlike us, the animals decided that they were staying indoors, so it was like scoring a bingo every time we managed to spot an animal that was not hiding from the scorching sun.  The zoo is set up much like Dubbo Zoo but on a smaller scale.  This meant we paid extra for an oversize golf cart to take us to each zone.

this young fellow was so still, I wondered if he was real

This one wasn't going to turn around for us

Oh so cute

With the lack  of real animals we had to settle for this type

Hyenas came out to say hi.....

Well they are life form of some sort

This fellow was sound asleep, but he must of smelt us, so he popped his head up

No apes in this enclosure so Pete made up for it.....

When this fellow spotted us at the glass window he came out to say hi

He must have been after some company and he troddled over and sat by the glass.

The highlight of our visit was the bird sanctuary, the birds were nice, but it was the air-conditioning that impressed us most.   

Though after being to Antarctica earlier this and seeing so many beautiful penguins in the wild, it broke my heart to see these penguins behind glass and not a speck of snow be found anywhere…  They certainly didn’t look in the best of condition.  Little did we know that this would be the highlight of our whole visit.

This little fellow broke my heart as he stood by the glass

No snow anywhere to be seen

this little fellow frolicked in the water to grab our attention

Once we left the zoo we headed to the top of Jebel Hafeet Mountain. Having to make an unexpected stop halfway up to allow the cars engine to cool down, as our driver was a little concerned about the warning signs flashing on the dashboard. The views from the pit stop and the top of the mountain were hazy across the arid landscape.

This is where our trip started to go a little awry, Saif asked where we would like to go next.  Knowing we couldn’t go to the Museum (closed), we perused the list, assuming that we would visit everything, we suggest the Ain National Heritage, which we assumed was a cultural display.  Saif looked at us strangely, we pointed to the list, and his look became even stranger…. So we googled trying to find where it was, (hang on who is the guide here?).  Saif continued to tell us that this was his first tour here, we suggest he ring his boss and find exactly what our program should be, you could see the look on his face “Nup, not going to do that”. Continuing to humor us we drove to where we thought the Heritage Centre may be… ended up at a race track… hmm… now it is also getting later and we still had a 2hour drive back to the ship.

Thinking we needed something for lunch, Saif’s first suggestion was a service station, nup that one was closed, kept asking us for suggestions and our only reply could be…. “but we don’t live here, you should know, ring your boss”  In a tiny back lane we stopped at Al Ains equivalent to Burger King …. Only big enough to accommodate the table of 8 that we sat at.  A long wait but it was tasty and the fresh juices were excellent.  You really know you are off the beaten track when lunch costs you only $13.

After more debate on where to go next, we gave up and decided, let's go to the fort before heading back.  Knowing that he had probably done his dash with any form of tip, we approached the fort and passed it just as fast.  In unison, there was this collective “hey”…….  We wanted to at least stop for a photo….  His customer service skills were waning and he pulled over and suggest we walk back instead of him chucking a U-turn…. Really! In 49 deg heat….

Finally, we were back on the freeway heading back to our home away from home…

One little tidbit….. speeds on the motorways are 120 km but they can travel up to 140km….. 141 and you get fined….. 

UPDATE:  Sharon managed to secure a 50% refund for our day! (One of the benefits of booking through Viator)