I went kayaking last weekend at the Eastern Mangroves, right in the heart of Abu Dhabi. It's amazing being out in the water, and people are so surprised to hear that there is so much water and nature, because I'm in the desert.
Kayaking is organised by a great team of guys from Noukhada, who are extremely professional and knowledgeable about the ecology of the area. I learnt that 70% of fishing life in the Gulf spawns in the mangroves in UAE and Oman. We saw blue swimmer crabs, herons and kingfishers which were lovely. The trip before us at 6am in the morning even saw a fox along one of the beaches.
It's sad though to hear some of the stories about how much things have changed and how the ecology is changing because of all the massive developments going on. My firm is responsible for building a large hotel there, and one of the sheiks is building a palace there as well. I wish there was more conscientious development but I think this country has a long way to go in its efforts. Even something as simple as recycling is not easy, I am lucky to have found some drop off bins about 5 mins drive away so I save everything and drop it off on the weekend. Most people never recycle, but hopefully things change as the government puts in more effort in educating people about the environment.
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