The Green Planet Green planet is a bio dome that recreates an artificial rain forest in an enclosed ecosystem. It houses around 3000 species of plants and animals.
Yes UAE is a great country to live-in. Safe, clean and all modern facilities area available, but like all the expats living in a foreign country we all have that deep affection towards our homeland. It has been almost 3 years since I have been back home, but feels almost like a decade. I miss the rain, local festivals, beaches, home made food and most importantly the green environment where I used to live in.
I never expected to get even a small percent of such a vibe here in a Middle Eastern country but to my surprise, I found that UAE is not just a desert country with few tall buildings. There are certain places that makes us think twice again.
Once such magical place is the Green Planet of Dubai.
I checked online on www.thegreenplanetdubai.com the previous day before visit. Almost all details regarding the place is given in the official website. I found out that along with the general visit, there some additional things one can experience like the bird encounter, reptile encounter etc…
All these encounters gives the visitors a chance to get a much more close up experience with the animals and even take photos with them holding them in your hands. During the encounter sessions, the green planet biologists will explain details regarding the respective animals.
During my trip to the green planet, I just took the normal entry tickets and didn’t add any encounter packages with it. Normal entry fees is 115 Dirhams as of now, but if you book online through the official green planet the rates are less. My roommate Jijo came with me to Green Planet. Jijo is a Web Developer and he designed this beautiful website for me.
Green planet gives a welcome photograph session to its visitors once you enter. We were made to stand near to a green screen and they made us pose in different angles and moods. The photographer then tied a kind of white ribbon with some codes in both of our hands. He said that it is an identification marked for us, so that we can present it to get the welcome photos taken at last while exiting green planet.
We came inside and the first thing we saw was the piranhas in the glass tank. A brief description about the piranhas were also given on a display board. This is was the first time i ever saw live piranhas in my life.
One of the staff then guided us to take the elevator and go to the top. When I reached the top, I was observing the unique construction of this huge structure. An artificial tree sits in the center with branches to all sides. Surrounding this tree is a ramp walk going down from top to bottom. Each level of the tree houses different species of birds and animals. The bottom part represents the water body and is for the fish. (We saw piranha when we were at the bottom)
We started moving down through the circular ramp and on the way saw different species of bird flying around the tree and sitting on its branches.
We did not mind posing for pictures either. (We took photos for each other)
For the visitor’s information, you can see boards displaying details of the rain forest and its species along the way
I saw a beautiful waterfall like setup (Water is made to fall from top floor to bottom to give viewers the look of a rain forest waterfall)
A board displaying all the animal encounters.
Before leaving, we went to the counter to collect the welcome photos and other photos taken to us by green planet staff during our time here.
(We got three pictures printed and framed, the rest were downloaded from a reference website they provided)
For me what I felt personally about green planet is that, I got a different kind of zoo visit feeling. If you are an animal lover, but don’t want to walk all day in sun bearing Dubai’s heat at summer, then green planet is the best place to hang out.
Author: Aromal Anil