Dubai has something for everyone. From genteel activities in the sunshine to extreme sports and major professional events - all played out in some of the best sporting facilities in the world.
If you enjoy observing the beauty of marine life, there are plenty of sites in and around the UAE where you can do so.
There are also plenty of places to observe nature in the UAE. Bird watchers in particular have the chance to observe some unique specimens at Ras al Khor wildlife sanctuary.
Or you could always take a trip to the UAE Falcon and Heritage Centre which is located off the Al Khail Road, just a couple of kilometers from the World Trade Centre.
Here you can witness one of the most traditional of Emirati pastimes.
Dubai is famous for many things - and in the sporting fraternity - it has a fabulous reputation for world class golf courses. The most famous can be found at the Emirates Golf Club.
Situated just off interchange five of the Shaikh Zayhed Road, it plays host to the lucrative Dubai Desert Classic event on the European tour.
Casual players can usually try their luck on one of the two courses. Elsewhere in Dubai, the Creek course offers the chance to play a challenging round with the backdrop of the city and Dubai creek.
The Montgomerie (designed by Colin Montgomerie) is situated a hefty drive or two away from Emirates Golf Club.
At Nad Al Sheba you can play 9 holes and there is some opportunity for floodlit games at night. There are also a couple of ice rinks, netball courts and athletics training facilities.
Multiple Dubai Desert Classic winner Ernie Els is also currently designing a course for the under construction Dubai Sport City.
Now even golf pales into comparison with the UAE’s national obsession - racing.
The UAE is a serious horse racing country and fittingly, Dubai is home to the richest race in the world.
Other major sporting events to take place in Dubai include the Dubai Duty Free tennis tournament, which recently has attracted the likes of World number one Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, both of the Williams’ sisters and Lyndsey Davenport.
Motor racing is rising in popularity in the emirate, and in the Dubai Autodrome the city boasts a Formula One standard race facility – which will play host to the A1 Grand Prix in January 2006.
Now most other sports pale into comparison with the UAE’s number one sport, horse racing.
The Dubai World Cup - with price money worth more than US$2m - is staged every March at the Nad al Shebah course.
It attracts the top horses, trainers and spectators from around the world and is one of the social events of the year.
There is also horse racing at the Jebel Ali racecourse, which is situated behind "The Greens" development, just off Interchange 5 of the Shaikh Zayhed Road.
If you like your racing a little slower, and a little more traditional, then you can always go to a camel race at Nad al Sheeba, a sport which has a large following among UAE nationals and which is phasing out the use of child jockeys.
Being a city next to the sea, you’d expect top quality water sports. Well, Dubai is home to top UIM Powerboat team 'Victory'.
The team, based in Dubai Marina have won the F1 title on several occasions.
The glitz and glamour of high powered watersport also comes to Dubai every November, as the city hosts a round of the world title series.
Gulf News Web Report
Published: September 13, 2006, 00:00
Friday, January 25, 2008
How green is my desert
Dubai: Building developments are encroaching on wildlife in the UAE causing indigenous species to disappear.
Trekking through the wadis or hillsides will take you far off the beaten track to spot bright yellow, white or red petals. Prepare to don your walking boots and leave the car parked on the tarmac.
Walking up a small peak on rocky scrubland can bring you to an unforeseen patch of wild purple flowers and grasses. The hillsides have a green hue when seen from below, giving the usually barren landscape a spring-time feel.
Dr Reza Khan, director of Dubai Zoo and a keen botanist, knows all the nooks and crannies where the UAE's plants sprout after the rain.
Author of The Indigenous Trees of the United Arab Emirates guide for Dubai Municipality, Khan said wildflowers of the UAE are unknown to many people as they can be difficult to spot.
"Wild flowers have nowhere to grow anymore because their habitat is being taken up by the construction of roads or buildings. As soon as it rains some plants come to life, but with nowhere for them to grow it doesn't matter if it rains or not. Some can flower after 5 years," said Khan.
However Maerusa crassifolia is a shrub that is extremely rare nowadays.
"You used to find it a lot in the mountains, at the foothills of Hatta and Buraimi. They have disappeared because of overgrazing. Camels and goats just love it," said Khan.
"Wadi systems need to be protected. During the rainy season they can be like torrents and they are the natural irrigation systems of nature," said Khan.
Other plants have been used for centuries by bedouin men and women either as cures, painkillers or cosmetics and food.
For example the Fire bush (Calligonum comosum), known in Arabic as 'abal bush' is important as it stabilises sand. It has bright red, prickly lantern-shaped fruit which the bedouins used as a spice and the young shoots as a vegetable.
Many bedouin girls have rouged their cheeks with the bright red fruit. Also the burnt woody parts of the Eyelash plant (Blepharis ciliaris) locally known as 'kahil' or 'kohl', used to be mixed to make a black powder and applied to the eyes, both as a cosmetic or to soothe eye infections.
Wanderers in the desert might also come across the desert squash (citrullus colocynthis) called Hanzal in Arabic. It has a yellow bitter fruit unfit for human consumption.
More Jobs vacancy info on:
http://www.gnads4u.com/jobs
Trekking through the wadis or hillsides will take you far off the beaten track to spot bright yellow, white or red petals. Prepare to don your walking boots and leave the car parked on the tarmac.
Walking up a small peak on rocky scrubland can bring you to an unforeseen patch of wild purple flowers and grasses. The hillsides have a green hue when seen from below, giving the usually barren landscape a spring-time feel.
Dr Reza Khan, director of Dubai Zoo and a keen botanist, knows all the nooks and crannies where the UAE's plants sprout after the rain.
Author of The Indigenous Trees of the United Arab Emirates guide for Dubai Municipality, Khan said wildflowers of the UAE are unknown to many people as they can be difficult to spot.
"Wild flowers have nowhere to grow anymore because their habitat is being taken up by the construction of roads or buildings. As soon as it rains some plants come to life, but with nowhere for them to grow it doesn't matter if it rains or not. Some can flower after 5 years," said Khan.
However Maerusa crassifolia is a shrub that is extremely rare nowadays.
"You used to find it a lot in the mountains, at the foothills of Hatta and Buraimi. They have disappeared because of overgrazing. Camels and goats just love it," said Khan.
"Wadi systems need to be protected. During the rainy season they can be like torrents and they are the natural irrigation systems of nature," said Khan.
Other plants have been used for centuries by bedouin men and women either as cures, painkillers or cosmetics and food.
For example the Fire bush (Calligonum comosum), known in Arabic as 'abal bush' is important as it stabilises sand. It has bright red, prickly lantern-shaped fruit which the bedouins used as a spice and the young shoots as a vegetable.
Many bedouin girls have rouged their cheeks with the bright red fruit. Also the burnt woody parts of the Eyelash plant (Blepharis ciliaris) locally known as 'kahil' or 'kohl', used to be mixed to make a black powder and applied to the eyes, both as a cosmetic or to soothe eye infections.
Wanderers in the desert might also come across the desert squash (citrullus colocynthis) called Hanzal in Arabic. It has a yellow bitter fruit unfit for human consumption.
More Jobs vacancy info on:
http://www.gnads4u.com/jobs
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