Hatta Fort

 

We are trying to squeeze in UAE travels while the weather is still tolerable.  One of the places on our list for this spring was Hatta, a fort town in the mountainous center of the country.  The climate at Hatta is hot but drier than Abu Dhabi and Dubai, making it a relative summer haven.  

Nearby Hatta Fort is a small complex of a few towers and a main square, now converted into a museum scattered with all-too life-like soldiers.

We stayed at a charming hotel, open since 1981 (an eternity by UAE standards).  Hatta Fort Hotel lacks the sheen of modern UAE architecture, and we didn't miss the glitz one bit. It is an unofficial gathering spot for the Dubai Harley Davidson club. The 100+ degree weather didn't deter the bikers from parking their bikes in the sun and striding about in their leather pants.

The hotel has an endearing medley of attractions: a putt-putt course, where the "greens" are cement (the ball never stops rolling!), rabbits in a rabbit house, goats, ducks, and several loquacious peacocks.

Even though it is spring here, it is still quite warm.  We walked up to the hotel's observation point. Despite our considerable sweat, no one will be impressed with our ascent.

 

Al Ain Zoo

After a nice dinner with friends on Thursday evening, we woke up on Friday without any particular plans.  A trustworthy tourist magazine suggested we visit the Emirates National Auto Museum (say yes to everything!).  Unfortunately, we missed a turn on the way there, and ended up halfway to Al Ain -- so we decided to go the whole way.  Al Ain is the second-largest city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It is a popular spot in the summer, because though it is even hotter than Abu Dhabi, it is less humid.  It is also more (naturally) verdant and has many oases.

The Al Ain Zoo is the best in the UAE, and we've been planning to go for ages.  Fortunately for us, the zoo started its winter hours this weekend -- meaning it stayed open during the day -- but sadly, they kept the summer weather. Curiously, they sell neither sunscreen, nor postcards (unless you're interested in high-end dino holograms, which we normally would be -- but at a zoo?).

The zoo has a large collection of animals native to the Arabian peninsula and northern Africa.  Some had some pretty incredible headgear, including the aptly named scimitar oryx.

Believe it or not, flamingos make their home in the UAE for a brief period of time on their way from Russia to Africa.  We saw some more permanent residents:

There were some giraffes living contentedly with some rhinos, with a beautiful mountain in the background.

Margaret saw her first ostrich up close:

And some hippos!

We had trouble finding the exit, so tentatively entered an unlabeled building near the entrance.  Turned out it had an exhibit on local birds.  Some of them looked like they'd been painted by Dr. Seuss.

The sand dunes on the drive home were beautiful. We are excited to take a camping trip once our sand tent arrives with the rest of our worldly possessions (this week - fingers crossed!).

Mendocino

A disclaimer that recent trips have not been camping related and that most of these photos are borrowed....but at any rate, they were all exploration-centric. We've been on a cute B&B kick, and Mendocino is the perfect place to indulge such a kick.

We stayed at The Andiron Inn in the "Play" cabin, full of vintage board games (PerQuackety!) and complete with Whoopie pies on our arrival. The breakfast toast bar far transcended the humble status of toast, happy hour was fun, and the starlit hot tub in the grove was fantastic; best of all, though, were the goats (Peanut Butter & Jelly), who are friendly and perpetually in need of a rub and a treat.



The town of Mendocino was lovely...gifty and gallery laden, sure, but also right on some coastal cliffs that we eventually explored after we tired of buying candles and ogling expensive beach wood items of dubious functionality.



Fort Bragg, home of the Skunk Train, was a little more down to earth. We went for a run along the old railway trail, a gorgeous ocean-side track that goes on for miles along a secluded coast line. We ended by running back to the Trestle Bridge (near "Pudding Beach")...more striking to see from a distance than to stand on, but important to stand on, nonetheless.



And...the best ending for a run... we tried the beer sampler at North Coast Brewing Co. over soup and sandwiches.



Our second run was perhaps even more lovely, because so secluded. We ran into Russian Gulch State Park from the beach parking across the street from the entrance, up through the park, and onto Fern Canyon Trail.



"And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow"
W.B. Yeats