Strangely enough, there is little information about this place on the internet, it is hardly mentioned in articles such as ‘The most interesting places in Dubai’, and there are very few reviews. Nevertheless, we stumbled upon it by accident and decided to visit. To cut a long story short, we did not regret it one bit! This place is very interesting to visit with or without children.
The safari park is located away from the main attractions and, as far as I understand, it is not possible to get there except by taxi. And this is not surprising. The park covers a fairly large area and it would be difficult to locate it within the city limits.
There is a large car park near the park and many ticket offices. Everything is well thought out, and the place is comfortable for visitors. There are plenty of places to eat, lots of bins and toilets. There are shelters with water sprayers and other places to hide from the sun.
The park is divided into several zones: a children’s farm, African and Asian villages, an Arabian desert safari, and an explorer’s village. There are small trains that run from one zone to another, but you can also walk.
We wanted to skip the children’s farm because we didn’t have small children with us. However, we decided to take a look anyway. And we did not regret it! There are many small animals such as rabbits and goats, all of which can be found in our petting zoos. Here, you can also pet and feed them. We arrived in the morning, and the animals were still hungry and ran towards us, which delighted us immensely. But the most interesting thing about this place is the parrot enclosure.
You can go inside the enclosure, and the parrots are not in cages but move around freely, perching on visitors’ hands and heads, cooing, and some even talk! There are many species of parrots of different sizes and colours. However, it is worth noting that at the end of the day, when we decided to visit them again, they were not as active. Therefore, it is better to plan your visit for the first half of the day.
Walking through the Arabian desert is not an option; visitors are transported by golf carts. The territory is small and can be explored in about 15 minutes. There are camels, gazelles and roe deer. There are no cages, some animals are fenced off, some roam freely and can walk onto the road where the golf carts drive. The golf cart driver stops periodically to point out the animals, especially those that are not immediately visible (hiding in the shade of a tree, for example).
The Asian village is also not very large, but it needs to be explored on foot. The most interesting animals in this part of the park are the gibbons. There are also bears, tigers and various birds.
The African village is the largest of the areas that can be explored on foot. It features numerous African animals, including many monkeys, zebras, giraffes, and elephants — all of which usually attract the most interest and excitement.
At certain times, you can feed the giraffes, but there was a long queue, so we didn’t wait. It was interesting just to watch them.
The African village has a separate pavilion with reptiles, where you can see various species of snakes, chameleons, iguanas, etc.
The largest area is occupied by the Explorers’ Village. It is essentially a safari. You cannot walk here on foot — you are taken around on buses with a guide (English-speaking). This area features various animals from all over the world, including predators. There are no cages; all the animals roam freely. The areas where predators and their potential prey are kept are separated. The safari lasts about 40 minutes. There is a queue, but it moves quickly, as the buses leave one after another.
In the centre of the Safari Park, there is a small park with a pond where you can just take a pleasant stroll. Everything is very green, despite the fact that it is not easy to maintain in this area.
During the day, you can visit three different shows according to the schedule.
We visited one of them – Amazing Creatures of the World. It seemed that when walking around the park, there weren’t many people, apparently everyone was scattered around. There were a lot of people at the show, and you need to come early to get a seat. I can’t say that the show is thrilling, it’s more for children. It mainly featured different birds and dogs.
In conclusion, I can say that, in my opinion, this place is underrated and a must-visit. The park is closed in the summer due to the weather, but at other times of the year it is very beautiful and interesting, and you can spend the whole day there!
