Archive : Dubai

Animal encounter @ Dubai Safari Park

A variety of animals greet us at the door to Explorer Village

The kids have been wanting to visit the safari park ever since it reopens in October 2020. We always pass by the humongous signboard at it’s entrance when we go to International City and the kids were always asking when are we bringing them. My initial plan was to visit over the December school holiday but unfortunately the combo ticket were sold out before I could get my hands on it.

The combo tickets includes an air-conditioned bus ride into the explorer village where one could have close encounter with animals such as lion, tiger, oryx, cheetah, zebra etc. The ride takes approximately 45 mins so do plan your day. There is a staff that will give some fun facts on the animals along the way which makes our trip more fun!

Jaclyn enjoying the bus ride, which brings us through the animal’s habitat, both on land and in river.Can you spot the crocodile?

Did you know that there is no female lion in the safari park? And the reason is not that the male lion looks nicer with their mane but rather because the male and female tends to fight when they are kept together. However, I don’t see this issues with other zoos though, they must have kept them until control somehow 🙂

A lion resting and enjoying the shade provided by the trees.
Kid’s fav in Explorer Village. The tiger is literally just next to them!

Also, I did not know that oryx actually changes colour according to season. They are white in winter and slowly turns darker shade of brown in summer. So, the oryx is now half white and half brown, interesting facts indeed.

The weather is a little too hot and humid on the day we visited so we did not enjoy fully but rather looking for shade and some cold drinks to cool down.

I have to say that their food and beverages in the park is very reasonably priced. We had fried rice at the Thai food truck and the price range is DHS 20-25 for the rice that comes in a pretty big portion.

Ice cream at the Thai store are sold between DHS 3-8 , hence we could not resist but had some for our dessert after and they are really good.

Do bring lots of water as the weather is turning warm and the park is pretty vast so definitely needs lots of hydration. However, if you ran out of water, a 500ml mineral water sets you back at DHS 2 and it is not exorbitant. Do bring some coins to purchase the mineral water.

Colourful entrance to kid’s farm

Kids enjoyed the kids farm as they can interact with the friendly parrots. Safe distancing is in place and they limit the amount of people and time inside the aviary.

Petting parrots is definitely the highlight for the kids at safari park!

My favourite part is the ride though the Arabian Desert in an open air tram, although it was not a long ride but I just love the feeling of looking out and seeing the deers and oryx roaming freely in their habitat. This tram ride is available to everyone and you can enjoy it without having to purchase the combo ticket.

Enjoying our tram ride through the Arabian Dessert unique to this region

The official website definitely can do more in their information section. I could not find any information on the animals show on their website or at the entrance. We only got the information by asking the staff.

Some info below on the animal shows for those who plan to visit:

  1. Bird show at 11am. Location: Explorer Village Theatre
  2. Animal show at 3pm. Location: Asian Village Theatre
The 11am bird show where you can spot hornbills, pelicans, parrots, ducks, etc

The zip line and huge playground that you can see as you drive in the park is not open at the moment. If anyone of you visit the park in the future, do let me know when the zip line is open as that would warrant another visit from us.

Overall, it was a good experience and definitely one of the nicer zoo in the UAE. It would help if there are more trees planted to give shade as the summer in UAE is pretty harsh. The overall design and architecture are great and gives a majestic look to the area. Definitely give them a visit if you have time, whether you are visiting or residing in Dubai. Children do learn a lot especially during the explorer village bus ride!

One of my fav shot this visit- inside the aviary at African Village

To purchase tickets, do visit their official website as it gives a cheaper price. If you purchase them from head out website, they charge additional service fees.

Dubai Safari Park tickets:

https://dubaisafari.ae

This map will come in handy when you are planning your trip:

https://dubaisafari.ae/DubaiSafariPark_Map_V2.pdf

Learn. Enjoy. Explore.

Short video of our safari trip!

Loading

Half term break – visit to Oompa Loompa

It’s school holiday AGAIN!

Sometimes I wonder if I spend more time studying or holiday-ing. Don’t get me wrong, I love HOLIDAY (who doesn’t, right?) but if I recalled correctly, I think we just got back from winter break like 5 weeks ago!!! 

Anyway, what matters is–> it’s holiday again!!!

So says ALOHA to:

– late night cartoon

– lazing in bed in the morning

– indoor playground

– FUN, FUN and more FUN

Daddy is on a work trip to Manchester but mummy said it is better for us to stay in DUBAI because of the you-know-what VIRUS that is going on around the world. Anyway, I guess I don’t mind since its freezing in Manchester right now and it gets dark around 3.30pm anyway.

Plus mummy promised to bring me to this newly opened Oompa Loompa for chocolate making masterclass (how cool is that!).

Oooh… silly me. I have not introduced myself.

Hello… I am Jaclyn. Don’t mind me. I am enjoying my favourite BR Cotton Candy ice-cream.

I am from Singapore and we kinda moved to Dubai 2 years ago because daddy got relocated (To be honest, I don’t exactly know what it means but I am guessing it’s something like we move our whole house 5840km across the ocean because that’s what we did!)

At first, I was kinda sad to leave all my friends and it’s not like I can be instantly popular and get many new friends here. The first few months were tough but with my strong willpower (and of course some support from my family), I am adapting well now and I have new BFFs.

This is my brother, he is quite a pain-in-the-ass, seriously what’s with the face.

We practically quarreled 99% of the time!!! Do you quarrel with your siblings much?

You probably wouldn’t unless your brother is as ANNOYING as mine!

ARGHHH!!!

This is my parents, my cute cute fatty daddy and my ever-nagging mummy. I do love them but sometimes, I just wish they would leave me alone (literally!).

Enough with my ranting.

Back to Oompa Loompa, so I guess whoever read Charlie and the chocolate factory would know what it is. It’s this little man that works in the factory and it’s like a dream come true job. Imagine basking around in chocolate all day long, who wouldn’t like this job, right?

The weather is beautiful on that day. The skies are blue and the weather is perfect (sunny with cool breeze). There are so many beach-goers on the beach, basking under the sun or dipping in the sea.

Crossing bridge between Bluewaters and Jumeirah Beach Residence

We arrived at the restaurant just 10 minutes before the scheduled class at 12pm. We parked all the way across the ocean at Bluewater and walked over because parking at Bluewater is FREE (yeah, this is exactly the kinda thing mummy would do).

Well, mummy said that parking at JBR (where the restaurant is located) is expensive. We do get a 3 hour free parking if we spend a minimum AED 100 which we will since we are going for the class BUT mummy says there is no chance she could drag us out within 3 hours because there is an indoor playground at the restaurant (yes, you heard me right! There is AN INDOOR PLAYGROUND and there is no limit how long you can play there!!!! WOW!!!) and she is right! We ended up staying there for 5 hours and she practically had to DRAG us home. 

Chocolate making class at Oompa Loompa

The chocolate making class is all right I guess. We spend some time crushing cocoa beans, adding some sugar in it. We also get a mini history class on cocoa beans and how it is consumed in the olden days.

Did you know that in the oldie times in Mexico, they add chilli, black pepper and salt with cocoa powder and drink? OMG! YUCK! It’s totally disgusting. Hence there is another name for chocolate drink, its called the spicy water, like seriously?!

Then we were given some melted chocolate to put it into a mould that we chose and tadaaaa, its DONE! Just like that.

On weekday it costs AED 65 (compared to weekend at AED 130) so it’s quite a bargain (otherwise mummy wouldn’t bring us, haha!)

After the chocolate making class, we had crepes and juice (the food comes complimentary with the class) and then it’s PARTY time. 

Soft play at Oompa Loompa, JBR

My brother and I had lots of fun at the playground with some other new “friends” that we met there. By the way, we didn’t quarrel today, at least not at Oompa Loompa although he did annoys me on our way back.

We were picking some seashells while walking back and when I drop one of my pretty sea shells, he just picked it up and said “Finders Keepers!!!” ARGHHHHH!!!!! 

xoxo, Jaclyn

Notes from mummy:- Oompa Loompa @ JBR, Dubai Chocolate masterclass price: AED 65 (weekday), AED 130 (weekend) Chocolate masterclass slots: 10am, 12pm, 2.30pm, 4.30pm, 6.30pm

Loading