Living the Travel Channel

Arabia’s Wildlife Centre

March 30, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Yesterday, we ventured to the Sharjah’s Arabia’s Wildlife Centre. It is located between Sharjah and Dhaid. The centre is part of the Sharjah Desert Park which also includes a children’s farm (we’re assuming this is a petting zoo) and a natural history & botanical museum. Entrance to the park is 15 AED for adults ($4.00 US).

Photography is strictly forbidden in the wildlife center, so all you will get in this post is this picture of camels crossing the road which we encountered on the way there.

We highly recommend the wildlife center. It is very well designed and most of the animals were visible and active. Included are animals of all kinds native to different areas of Arabia, not just the U.A.E. – snakes, geckos, lizards, frogs, mice, rats, gerbils, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, scorpions, foxes, wolves, wildcats, sand cats, jackals, porcupines, hedgehogs, honey badgers, gazelles, ibexes, oryxes, ostriches, flamingos, pelicans, owls, bats, and so much more. If only I could have used my camera, I would have so many desert hare pictures – bunnies everywhere!

On our way out, we passed the big animal enclosures. Starting with the baboons. It was feeding time, so they were quite busy. The next enclosure had desert wolves, who can look over the pit separating the enclosures and see the baboons. They were pacing up and down undoubtedly thinking “those baboons look tasty.” Next door to the wolves were striped hyenas also pacing up and down looking at the wolves thinking “those wolves look tasty.” Next to them were the cheetahs. If the cheetahs don’t fancy a hyena meal, they can also see an enclosure of gazelles. I’ve never been so close to a cheetah, separated only by glass. And, last, but not least, came the leopard. He, being the king of all, was just chillin’ out.

This is definitely a value deal. Give yourself plenty of time. The exhibits are extensive and you’ll want to stop and watch the active animals. One little Egyptian Spiny Mouse had a grub and was being chased mercilessly by her roommates. I hope she got to eat it in peace, eventually.

Posted in animals, birds, camels, cats, museum, Sharjah | Tagged Arabian animals, museum, United Arab Emirates, wildlife park | 1 Comment »

Dubai Tourist for a Day

March 26, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

I’m on two weeks vacation now, but we are staying local. We needed to go into Dubai to do some bank business at our original brach, which only took a few minutes, so we had the rest of the day to be tourists.

So, we went to the Dubai Museum, which is in Bur Dubai, the oldest part of town. It is housed in Al Fahidi Fort. Admission is 3 AED ($0.81).

The museum also has an underground section. It is very well designed, providing a recreation of a market and city streets. There are also pearl diving, boat building and fishing displays. The problem is that the museum was set up in one shot and is not being updated or developed. (At the very least, they should dust the stuffed animals.)

We headed over to the Dubai Creek where we met this lovely stray cat. She enjoyed some getting some attention.

We took an abra across the Creek to the Deira side. The price is still 1 AED each ($0.27) There was a parade of tourist buses unloading travelers transferring to the abras.

Then we took a walk down the creekside where boats load cargo. We did this same walk about three and a half years ago. There was significantly less cargo, but that may or may not be a sign of anything.

We road back across the Creek on another abra.

We ate dinner at Bayt Al Wakeel restaurant which has a wooden deck that hangs out over the Creek. It is a nice view, but I cannot recommend the restaurant. The service was not particularly good. The bread was not freshly baked. The meat (both chicken and lamb) was tough. And, worst of all, they chased away the stray cat.

All in all, it was a pleasant day.

To see all pictures from the day – click here.

Posted in cats, Dubai, Dubai Creek, museum | Tagged abra, cat, Dubai, Dubai Creek, tourist | 1 Comment »

Falconry

March 25, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a meeting of the Emirates Natural History Group Fujairah where Guy Foster explained falconry and showed us some very beautiful birds.

The session was very informative. Falconry is actually not common in the Fujairah area because of the hills. It is usually done in wide open, flat areas so that one can maintain visual contact with the falcon. If a falcon flies over a hill, it may not come back to the “owner.” One never really owns falcons. They do not bond with people. Falcons are in it for the free food.

Female falcons are larger than males and more desirable for falconry. The indigenous falcons that are in country all year round are a small species. The larger species that pass through the UAE on their migration route have been considered more desirable. It is no longer legal to catch wild falcons.

We were all given a chance to gently touch the back of one of the birds.

DaddyBird enjoyed the chance to get up close and hold a falcon.

Posted in animals, birds, Fujairah | Tagged falconry, falcons | Leave a Comment »

Blustery Days

March 25, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

This photo was taken in February.

This is approximately the same view in March.

The wind has been blowing quite viciously this winter. “Sand storm” doesn’t really describe it, because the airborne particulates are a very fine dust not sand granules.

Living on the 16th floor of a new building with very leaky windows during these wind storms has been interesting. Aside from the high pitched whistle of the air coming through the windows, there is the vibrating of the building at large. It feels like living in a rocket ship about to take off. Even the cats didn’t want to be in the living room alone due to the wind howling around the sliding glass door.

Posted in Fujairah, weather | Tagged dust storm | Leave a Comment »

EAFOL Day Two & Three

March 11, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Darren Shan read sections of both his older works and not yet published works. It’s interesting to watch a round faced, cherry cheeked man read about zombies eating brains.

Dubai area poets, The Poeticians, read their own works. Hisham Wyne’s experimental piece required audience assistance so that his hands would be free (for his harmonica).

The youngest Poetician, Farah Chamma, wrote and read the most powerful pieces.

David Almond read from his new novel The True Tale of the Monster, Billy Dean. It is written phonetically, which I think I would find very frustrating to read. It was easy enough to listen to, though. 😉

Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham are a husband and wife writing team. She does the research and comes up with story ideas. He is the wordsmith. Their recent book, The Cloud Tea Monkeys (which I mentioned in the previous post) was illustrated by Juan Wijngaard, a painter of Portugese/Dutch decent who lives in the US. They spoke about their writing process as well as the contribution of the illustrations. They also shared another book that will be published later this year.

Posted in books, Dubai | Tagged books, children's books, Darren Shan, David Almond, Dubai, literature festival, picture books | 2 Comments »

Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

March 9, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

This weekend is the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai. We will be dropping in each day. Here is day one:

Qais Sedki, author of Gold Ring, was interviewed by Hisham Wyne. Qais took his love for reading, his love of manga, and his love of the Arabic language and put them all together in the first Arabic manga series. Two volumes are available in Arabic and volume one has just been released in English. Qais is also interested in animation of the story, but he doesn’t want an animated form to keep people from reading the story. This is also the reason for delaying the English version. He wants people to read in Arabic. It is great to see such a strong advocate for reading. We first met Qais at last year’s EAFOL and have enjoyed getting to know him. I hope to have him speak to my students soon and share his love of reading. I hope it is contagious.

Dubai Abdulla Abulhoul is the sixteen year old author of Galagolia. It is a fantasy novel that she has been working on for years. I’ve only read the first chapter, so can’t give an evaluation, yet. Dubai is a spunky girl.

Kinokuniya Book World is providing the book sales for the festival this year and the selection is great. We purchased several wonderful books (and one dud).

The Pearl Diver by Julia Johnson, illustrated by Patricia Al Fakhri – a picture book about traditional pearl diving. This is wonderful and I will be using it with my students soon. In fact, I plan to buy a class set. (ISBN 97819067688881)

My Own Special Way by Maitha Al Khayyat (spelled Mithaa Alkhayyat on the book) illustrated by Maya Fidawi, translated by Fatima Sharafeddini – a early reader chapter book about a young girl’s struggle to find her own style. Really sweet illustrations and story. Unfortunately, I don’t think my male students would find it of interest, but girls will eat this up. (ISBN 9781444003208)

The Arabian Nights by Wafa’ Tarnowska, illustrated by Carole Henaff – A retelling of the classic Arabian tales of Shahrazade. I’m looking forward to reading this one and hope that it will be one that I can share with students. It won the Smithsonian Notable Books for Children Award 2010.

Bride’s Story v.1 by Kaoru Mori – a graphic novel set in 19th century Mongolia. I have developed a fascination with Mongolia after reading Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, so I couldn’t resist this one.

Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illustrated by Juan Wijngaard – a picture book. I haven’t read it, yet, but the illustrations are amazing. (ISBN 9781406333862)

Saluki: Hound of the Bedouin by Julia Johnson, illustrated by Susan Keeble – a picture book about, you guessed it, saluki dogs. I haven’t read this, yet, but after reading The Pearl Diver I expect this one to be well researched and written, as well. (ISBN 9781906768904)

Now for the dud:
Here Comes the Poo Bus! by Andy Stanton, illustrations by Noelle Davies-Brock – a picture book about poo. Being a classy, sophisticated person, I can’t pass up a book about poo, but I should have stopped to read it before purchase. There is no real purpose to this book other than to say “poo bus” multiple times while reading aloud. The “poetry” is inconsistent, switching from ABCB to ABAB and back, with some missing syllables here and there making for a lack of rhythm. I used to have a collection of awful children’s books. I would have added this one.

Posted in books, Dubai | Tagged Arabic manga, books, children's books, Dubai, literature festival, manga, picture books | 1 Comment »

The Oldest Mosque in the UAE

February 25, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

Bidya Mosque is the oldest mosque in the United Arab Emirates. We took a drive north up the coast to visit the mosque (and try out my new camera).

It’s a like the Tardis. It seems larger on the inside than on the outside.

There are two towers on the hill above the mosque and a very beautiful view in all four directions.

More information about the mosque – click here.
More pictures – click here.

Posted in Dubai | Tagged ancient mosque, Bidya mosque, Fujairah, historical site, United Arab Emirates | Leave a Comment »

The Search for a Burger in a Foreign Land

February 24, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

It took three years, but I’ve developed a yearning for a good American burger. It’s not impossible to find here, but they are few and far between. Yes, there are Burger Kings, MacDonald’s, and even Hardy’s here, but I am talking about a REAL burger.

The top candidates, so far, are, Biggles (Dubai):

Small in circumference, but it was a handmade patty, not a thin, flat pre-made one. And, it comes with a cute beany.

Ace’s (Fujairah):

The problem with this one is the giant bun, which proudly touted in the menu. I start by moving the patty to the side of the bun and then cutting off the excess bread, downsizing the bun to a more appropriate circumference.

Also a contender is Gourmet Burger Kitchen (Dubai), but I do not have a picture. They have good sized burgers with savory patties and put lots of interesting toppings on them.

To be avoided are the Shake Shack burgers (Dubai). They are tasty, but small and WAY over priced.

We recently had burgers at the Harbor Club (Fujairah) which were classic in toppings and the meat was savory. There was a large portion of good fries as well.

Our most recent discovery is Burgerfuel (Dubai).

They claim to have engineered “the ultimate burger” and they are close. This is the “BF monster” which includes cheddar cheese, slices of beet (or beetroot as they call it here), mango, avocado, beef bacon, tomato, lettuce, & pickles. You had me with beet, mango and avocado. One of my favorite veggies and two of my favorite fruits. Put some asparagus on there and I might be devoted for life. The one weak point of this burger was that the beef patty was not as savory as it should be. It needs either salt & pepper or to be flame broiled, maybe both. (This large burger costs about the same as the Shake Shack tiny burger = better deal)

None, however, have conquered the Carolina Alehouse Burger. Oh, how we pine for thee.

Posted in Dubai, food, Fujairah, restaurant | Tagged American, burger, Dubai, Fujairah, hamburger, monster burger, savory | 2 Comments »

This is How Customer Service is Done

February 22, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

We are often asked “How is living in Fujairah?” Well, here is a very clear example:

Thums Up is DaddyBird’s favorite soda. I have to admit I drink way too much of the stuff, myself. It was hard enough to find in Dubai, but there is only one store in Fujairah that carries it, Choitrams. After discovering this, DaddyBird has gone in occasionally and purchased it a case at a time. Choitrams is a predominantly Indian store, so we stick out like sore thumbs as it is, but DaddyBird also purchases Indian food stuffs and an occasional Bollywood movie magazine, so he is somewhat memorable to the staff.

Yesterday, he went into the store looking for Thums Up. There was none in the front of the shop, as there sometimes is, so he headed to the back beverage section. Only a few individual cans there. He was about to give up when he was approached by a staff member who asked if he wanted a carton of Thums Up. They had set aside a case just for DaddyBird without being asked.

That is what it is like to live in Fujairah.

Posted in Fujairah, Shopping | Tagged Choitrams, customer service, Fujairah, soda | 2 Comments »