Kayaking the Eastern Mangroves of Abu Dhabi

Meandering through the Mangroves

 Kayaking the Eastern Mangroves of Abu Dhabi

In the thick of it.

Tiff gets so exciting about these outings!

The secret life of Abu Dhabi.  Hidden amongst the tall buildings and rapidly encroaching humanity can be found a glipmse of what this place might have looked like once upon a time.  Here and there, small tufts of desert grass still cling on for dear life and (I swear I saw one running scared through the surrounding building sites) desert foxes still scurry about the place, no doubt wondering what the hell has happened to their once-pristine environment.  I mean, the NEW stuff that's being built, all the artificially watered parks and tree-lined streets and roads, and the gardens and man-made 'nature' is really very pretty in parts, but there is that sense that nature is fighting a losing battle.

Down the wharf to the kayaks.

Safety demo!

Gus and Tiff passing the hotel from where you jump on your kayak.

There were about 12 of us in all.

But, there is one lovely spot , the Eastern Mangroves, that seems to be winning (with a bit of help).  As far as I can gather, they've always been there, but suffered terribly over the years as Abu Dhabi developed.  Dredging was undertaken in recent years to revitalise the mangroves and provide them with more sand banks in which to expand.  Up close they seem healthy enough, and there was even a bit of wildlife about the place... lots of little crabs clinging onto half-submerged tree trunks, mostly.  They're not exactly pristine wildlife refuges, and the mangroves up on the Central Coast north of Sydney shit on these from a VERY great height flora and fauna-wise, but they're really quite pretty, and the kayaking you can see in the pics is a tremendous break from half-finished skyscrapers, roadworks and shopping malls.  And all about a 10 minute drive from home!  Nice one!

Rounding the tip of the first sandbar covered in mangroves.

Yours truly.

Our intrepid leader, Ernesto.

Gus and Tiff, fully decked out!

Our happy flotilla.

The first of the narrows.

This is how it's done!!

Hardly a building in sight.

Matt and his new girlfiend.

Heading towards the narrows.

Oh, me again.  Gee, what a happy fellow!

Ummm, me again... thanks to Tiff for these pics.

Moving into the narrows.

In the thick of it.

I really do like a self-portrait, don't I?

Ahhh, someone different (but with yours truly sneaking a cameo in the background)!  Tiff and Gus negotiating the narrows... and finding plenty of time to self-snap a few pics!

Deliverance?

Quite serene in amongst it all.

Gus and Tiff again.

Exiting the narrows.

There's an egret in there somewhere.....

Nice.

Promise that's the last self portrait.

The mud banks were full of little crabs.... couldn't get close enough before they all scurried off.

Back past the tip and...

... back onto the pontoon.

With a little assistance.