Advertisement
Published: April 16th 2006
Today we went to the Al-Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve and also the beach! 😊 It was hot and sunny again... around 95 degrees. On the drive out (maybe 25 mins.) we passed the Formula One circuit race track, the horse race track, the king's palace, and ancient burial grounds.
At the wildlife park, before taking the bus tour, we walked around the entrance grounds and looked at various ducks, flamingos, and goats. The tour bus took as on a loop around the refuge. We saw ostriches, numerous goats, deer, and gazelles, as well as giraffe. I think they were all from Bahrain, the Middle East, or Africa.
In the middle of the tour we stopped by a bird park. We saw more ducks, swan, and other birds. In particular were two large (blue?) herons, maybe three feet tall, and with long, sharp beaks... that seemed to be rather aggressive towards me... Augusta speculated that they were going after the straps on my backpack since they didn't seem interested in Shawn, Augusta, or Kai. It was funny all around... but I was concerned that one of them would lunge at me.
With the bird reserve, I thought for
a moment how they kept so many different types of birds in one area without them flying off to somewhere else. And then, looking around at the surrounding dessert, and then looking at the reserve area, it really looked like an oasis.
After we finished the tour, we walked around the grounds more and saw porcupines, turtles, a camel, and other wildlife. From the refuge we then went to the beach (maybe a mile away).
The beach was a nice relief from the heat. Where it had been a steady, knawing heat all day (a little over a week ago I was skiing in the Alps, so I'm really trying my body's nerve), the ocean was refreshing and actually made the air feel kind of cool and at times chilly.
Kai was very shy at first with the water, and when he got some in his mouth he had a good cry. After awhile, though, he got used to floating along in his little round yellow baby-boat (not sure what to call it).
Shawn and I went out and got some goggles, and that was well worth it. We saw blue, yellow, white, stripped, and sundry
other kinds of fish. We also saw some hermit crabs.
Also, the ocean was very salty, probably the most salty water I've ever swam in.
After about two hours, we headed back to the villa and took a nap. Then Shawn made quesadillas. Since then I've been updating the blog and in a little bit we're planning to watch a movie.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
