[This was post updated on October 2024.]
If there’s only one place you can visit whilst here in the UAE, then this place would be the one that I would recommend.
Why? Well, apart from offering multiple (useful) things in the same place, it is also GREAT value for money. The only problem is that it is a bit far.
It consists of six places, with one of them being closed to the public. Any person above 12 only pays AED 20 (plus VAT) for ALL five places!
You need to buy the ticket at the main entrance and then keep it so that it gets stamped in each section. This means that you can only go to each place just once and also that if a place is left, you can return to it another day using the same ticket. It’s better to set a aside a few hours of one day (at least 3-4 hours) and just finish the whole thing in one go.
Here’s a review of all five places:
[There are no photos of the animals as I don’t take photos of living beings.]
Children’s farm
This is a small farm with some animals. There is a camel, some horses, donkeys, sheep, cows, goats, ducks, budgies and some other birds. They’ve also had hamsters and chicks at the entrance in the past.
The entrance has some information about milk and eggs. Then you enter the farm and look around. There’s free grass hanging in a big ball on the opposite side of the entrance, which you can use to feed some of the animals (only the goats and sheep). Apart from the entrance, this place is outdoors.
This is a place that the children love – due to the animal feeding part obviously.
Arabia’s Wildlife Centre
This is the second place and the most popular one of the lot. It is completely indoors (great for summers!). It has most (or perhaps all?) of the animals of Arabia. So, you’ll find the Arabian Tahr (a type of goat), Arabian Leopard, Arabian Cheetah and loads of snakes, lizards and mice!
There are also baboons (sometimes you see their adorable babies as well). There are also fishes, bats, toads and birds. The birds are actually free to fly about in their section (which might be scary for some).
There’s also a food court which is also surrounded by animals like gazelles, ostriches and the Arabian Orynx (which is extinct in the wild, unfortunately).
All the animals’ homes are made to resemble their natural habitats, which is very nice to see. Many people don’t like “trapped” animals so they’ll really like this place.
Islamic Botanical Gardens
This place is part indoors and part outdoors. It has trees, herbs and shrubs mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)).
Those who are into plants will love this place. Those who are into Islam AND plants will really, really love this place.
There are also monitors to check the Quran and Sunnah references for each plant and also its health benefit. Very nice for those interested in this kind of stuff.
Here’s the indoors part:
Here’s the outdoors part, which includes a simple garden as well:
Natural History and Botanical Museum
This is completely indoors. It’s a museum about the early formation of rocks, plants, etc. It is quite large and has many things which I really can’t explain here. It’s an interesting place though and very good for school students. The only thing that I didn’t like was that one of the halls had some music.
Here’s a sampling of what can be found inside:
Botanical Gardens
I missed this place completely the first few times and then discovered it through the official website!
You access this area from behind the museum. It’s an outdoor garden with only Emarati plants (yes, they do have stuff other than date palms, you know). It’s right behind the museum and the sign can be seen from inside it.
There’s a nice lake right next to the garden’s entrance. It can be seen from inside the museum.
The botanical garden itself is quite large. You keep walking in a straight line for about 10-15 minutes before you reach the end. (I don’t think anybody has figured out this place exists because I didn’t see a single human being in that area. It was fantastic.)
There are sitting areas throughout the path and there’s also a well at the end. You can also see loads of sand.
So, those are the five places (with the sixth being the breeding centre which is not open to the public.).
Each of the places has a car park so you can drive from one place to the next. The Botanical Garden has the same car park as the museum.
A new masjid was built in between the Children’s Farm and the Arabian Wildlife Centre:
As for food, then each of the four places has a place to buy drinks and some snacks but the Arabia’s Wildlife Centre is the only one which has an actual cafeteria to have lunch in. The food is pretty good and decently priced.
Sometimes, they also have traditional (i.e. Emarati) food outside some of the places.
The gift shop is located at the end of the museum. It was pretty good and had some nice stuff (including a notebook whose outer covers were made of recycled tires).
All in all, this one of the best places here in the UAE and everyone should visit it at least once. However, please note that the place is closed on Tuesdays.
Price: AED 20 plus VAT (for all four places) for above 12 years.
Timings: Sun-Thurs: 9am-5:30pm. Fri: 2pm-5:30pm. Sat: 11am-5:30pm. Tuesday closed.
Location: Al-Dhaid Road, 9th Interchange. Note: The signboard on the main road says Arabian Wildlife Centre, Children’s Farm and Natural History and Botanical Museum. This is the location on Google Maps.
Website: https://epaashj.ae/learning-centres/desert-park-centres/
Phone Number: All four places have a different number. Please refer to the website for details.
Parking: Each place has plenty of free parking in front of it.
Places to see nearby (i.e. on Al-Dhaid Road):
- House of Wisdom Library
- Sharjah Discovery Centre
- Sharjah National Park
- Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club
- Sharjah Cats and Dogs Shelter
- Sharjah Classic Cars Museum
- The whole of Dhaid