Kayaking in the Mangroves of Abu Dhabi

What better way to spend my last day of this two week trip than to go kayaking? – Yes, in the United Arab Emirates. 

This outing was in stark contrast to my 4x4 Dune Bashing trip and has been captured on my Kayaking & Canoeing Google Map.  In addition to hitting the dunes last night, I also visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque yesterday.  Coupling that with the fact that I got up up at 5:30am to make this float on time (got to go when the tides let you!!), well... let's just say I was tired and this was the toughest Canoes & Kayaks float I have been on in a very long time.  The sweltering heat MIGHT have played into it, too!  

If you are trying to visualize how the Mangrove National Park fits into the middle of a million-person city that is also in the desert, maybe the satellite picture below can help.

A treat indeed for the population and an unexpected one for me when I was trying to line up activities for my copious free time.  There was plenty of boiling hot sun from above for our 7am start time and I was glad to see the welcome sign only after a few minutes of paddling.

If you look closely through the smog & desert sand haze, you can make out one of Abu Dhabi's urban ranges of skyscrapers.

Nothing wrong with this wide-open paddling, but we came to get into the narrow water trails through the mangroves and we got a good dose of it thanks to scheduling this trip at high tide.

We all bunched up in a very narrow section for a little bit of education about the mangroves from our guide.

Dang, I really love getting out on the water in a kayak!!!!

We finally finished our water trail route and emptied back out into the more open area and got to (barely) see the distant buildings again and well as eventually seeing our welcome sign (this time in Arabic) before heading pack to where we started.

A big shout out to the folks at the Noukhada Adventure Company who I'm sure could help anyone out with water-based activities in Abu Dhabi.

As for me... this is the THIRD continent I've been lucky to go out paddling on.  Hmmm... maybe time to start planning some more far-flung kayaking trips?