Monday 8th August 2016
Our cab driver read us the temperature outside: 47 degrees Celcius, and rising. Yep, today was a scorcher to be traveling into the desert: our heads ached from dehydration, eyes were rapidly drying out from hot gusty winds, and mouths needed non stop sips of water. We were clearly doing the tourist thing – it was obvious! – who on earth travels in dusty old cabs in the middle of the day in the middle of Summer into the middle of the desert to look for a manmade oasis, but tourists? We do!
But we were on a mission to discover a world unimaginable in Dubai: a cool, green space dedicated to the cultivation, study and beauty of butterflies. The Butterfly Gardens are home to over 15,000 butterflies, insects and birds all living peacefully under nine temperature controlled domes. It’s pleasant inside these domes for the creatures and us humans as the temperature is held at 24 degrees. Butterflies frolic in and out of trees, nibbling on flowers, sucking on nectar. They roam free flying about playfully and like to land on human heads and hands.
This world renowned sanctuary for butterflies is a year round attraction located at Barsha South 3 easily accessible from the Mall of the Emirates via a 35 Dirham cab fare. Go be transported into the colourful, playful world of butterflies…
Mummá Dôra and Kingsley out the front
Nibbling on oranges
Landing on my hand
Landing on humans