Low-lying buildings such as the spa, beach villas and luxurious royal villas were added to the grounds, along with a swimming pool, gym and tennis court. Plans are underway to open an eco-camp at the end of 2009 with around 15 tents offering adventurous guests the opportunity of sleeping in the desert under the stars.
There’s a huge list of activities including snorkelling, scuba diving and fishing in the Arabian Gulf, mountain biking through the desert hinterland, hiking to the top of the salt dome hilltops and kayaking among mangroves.
I join a wildlife safari in an open-topped four-wheel drive. We set off at a sedate pace, there is a 50kph speed limit in place to prevent any mishaps occurring to the free-roaming sand gazelles. Most of the other animals are in fenced-off enclosures, so the tour feels more like an excursion through an open-range zoo than a safari in the traditional sense.
Adam Gordon, from Newcastle in northeastern England, is our guide and driver. ‘The fences will be taken down eventually so the animals can roam freely,’ he says. Native animals will then be relocated into one vast, 3,500-hectare Arabian wildlife park and non-native animals into a smaller safari park. The removal of the fences is being managed in stages with the assistance of a South African company, International Conservation Services.
Much of the shoreline is reclaimed land and hectares of mangroves are being planted to stabilise these areas. As part of the arrival ritual guests are asked to write their names on a piece of biodegradable, recyclable paper. Once a month the names are collected and a mangrove planted for each guest.
The island operates the region’s only wind turbine, capable of generating 850 kilowatts per hour, and the aim is for the entire island to become completely self-sustainable through solar and wind-generated power.
‘Everything we do has to be natural and respectful,’ says Desert Island’s marketing manager Lars Nielson, whose recent experience includes marketing Werribee Open Range Zoo in Melbourne, Australia. ‘All our activities are guided and the animals and environment come first.’
A lot of money is being spent on building this environmental showcase, but whether it will sustain itself in the long run remains to be seen. ‘I don’t think this place will ever pay for itself. It’s something only someone with enough money could do,’ says Gordon.
The Desert Islands project might sound ambitious, but compared to the $100 billion invested in infrastructure schemes to transform Abu Dhabi into an international cultural capital over the next five years, the scheme appears a relative drop in the ocean.
Abu Dhabi’s investment juggernaut has a mind-boggling menu of development projects in the pipeline, from a futuristic performing arts centre to an outpost of the Louvre, a campus of New York University, a new airport, ports and marinas.
When you observe such rapid progress, it’s difficult to imagine that this place was around 50 years ago, when the first tankers steamed across the Straits of Hormuz. Back then, many Emiratis lived in traditional mud-brick houses. Now the wealthy can safari in style at the former sheikh’s private reserve.
Where to stay
Desert Islands Resort and Spa, Sir Bani Yas Island, Al Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Rooms start at 1,800 dirhams ($490) per night.
Tel: (+971) 2801 5400
Comments are closed.