Places to see in United Arab Emirates
Wild Wadi Park
In addition to developing luxury hotels and restaurants, the UAE has focused on providing superlative entertainment and leisure facilities. Wild Wadi Water Park, which claims to be the world’s leading water adventure theme park, is one of the most recent projects in this field. Located adjacent to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the water park draws on the rich heritage of Arabian myth and legend for its design and resident cast of characters. Situated on 5 hectares of land, the park is built to resemble a typical wadi with water rides extending for a hair-raising 1.7 kilometers. Lush green vegetation amidst the ruins of a long-lost civilization add a touch of scenic beauty.
Ajman Resort
Other emirates are also developing their tourist facilities. For example, the Ajman Kempinski Hotel and Resort, a new 200-room 5-Star beachfront property, opened in October 1998. With extensive leisure facilities, including deep sea fishing and wreck diving from the hotel’s own boats, water-skiing, parasailing, windsurfing, bowling, tennis, fitness center and spa, the Ajman Kempinski also offers a range of business and conference facilities.
Sir Bani Yas
Sir Bani Yas, around 160 km. west of the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, has an area of a little over 80 sq.km. Its central hills, rising to a height of over 130 metres, contain the oldest rocks visible anywhere in the country. Of Cambrian date, these are over 600 million years old. The island contains archaeological sites from the Late Stone Age (7000 years ago) onwards. The most important is a Christian monastery dating from the late pre-Islamic period. Today, under the personal guidance of UAE President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the island is a major centre for the captive breeding of endangered wildlife, with herds of several hundred Arabian oryx and several thousand Sand Gazelles and Arabian Gazelles, some of which are being reintroduced to the wild, as well as other species. Over 150 species of birds have been recorded on the island, where more than two million trees have been planted as part of an afforestation programme.
