Month: June 2019

The Dubai Fountain

If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water

Loren Eiseley

I had been in Dubai for a few weeks when I was invited out for a meal in a restaurant at Souk al Bahar. At 10pm, one of the group persuaded us all to go outside to see the “dancing fountain”. I was surprised to be so moved by the display and put my teary eyes down to the upheaval of moving to a new country.

The Dubai Fountain is the world’s tallest performing fountain and the world’s largest choreographed fountain. Over 80,000 litres of water are shot to a height of 150m at any one time, illuminated at night by 6600 lights and 50 coloured projectors.

The children were keen to see the fountain for themselves, so we decided to visit early on a Friday afternoon. We easily found a bench in a prime spot opposite the Dubai Mall. Front row seats. There is something about the shock of the loud music starting and then the incredible display of dancing water that works some spell. It sounds like it should be a bit tacky, but it is really a beautiful experience.

Dubai Butterfly Garden

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough

Rabindranath Tagore

We drive past the sign to Dubai Butterfly Garden almost every day and the children have asked repeatedly to visit. I have been reluctant as it brings to mind those Victorian displays of butterflies pinned out on cork boards which always made me feel so sad.

Thankfully, the butterflies in this garden are very much alive. The children were absolutely captivated, especially as they were allowed to entice the butterflies to crawl onto their hands and land on their heads.

This is a perfect all weather outing. The 15,000 butterflies are housed in 10 huge climate-controlled domes. There is a clear educational emphasis with plenty of signage and engaging staff, one of whom brought a chrysalis over to us so that we could watch the butterfly emerge.

There was fairly tranquil music playing and lots of benches to relax for a minute while the children decorated themselves in butterflies.

The Swan

Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul

William Hazlitt 

I have had a love of swans since my childhood when I adopted a Bewick swan, Moppet, from Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and followed her annual migrations with her mate, Money. Swans are graceful and elegant. Watching swans gliding on the water instills a sense of peace and calm. Swans are strong and defensive of their young, being said to be capable of breaking a man’s arm with a swipe of their wing. They are also loyal mates, partnering for life.

As children, we spent a lot of time on the water, and were taught to respect the beauty and strength of the swans. We learnt to watch them from afar, bobbing about in our rubber dinghy and throwing our bread crusts for the coots and mallards.

I am now a swan in Dubai, trying to appear calm and graceful, protecting my family and elegantly gliding along when, under the surface, I’m frantically paddling to stay afloat!

Driving in Dubai

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost

Erol Ozan

It was the taxis that made me think that driving would be impossible here. We used them a lot in those first few days and I sat nervously in the back, watching the tall buildings rush by and witnessing manoeuvres that I knew I would never attempt. I was aware that the longer I left it, the more impossible it would seem, so on the third day I hired a little Chevrolet Spark, buckled the children in the back and set off to see if I could drive to the local supermarket and back without incident.

Now, hundreds of, not uneventful, kilometres later I feel quite at ease on the roads of the Emirates. These are my tips:

Drive on the right, unless you are a gardener on a bicycle.

Sat Nav, Google maps, Waze or all three at once.

Mirror, mirror, mirror, signal, mirror, mirror, mirror, manoeuvre

Be a middle lane driver on the highway

Don’t be in a rush

Take the wrong exit and expect to have a 12km detour to get back on track

A decent stopping gap will be filled by a car, or a bus

Consider joining all the SUVs skipping the traffic jams by bashing across the sand

Keep the fuel tank topped up

Keep calm