Exploring - Day 5

Today (November 18, 2021) we had no alarms to wake up to and it was great! It's nice to stay busy on our trips, but it's also really nice to have some stress free, slow paced time. We had breakfast in the lounge again because it's just so delicious! After breakfast, we relaxed a little bit and I worked on my blog. We then got ready to go out. Today's plan was to visit CityWalk Mall and Green Planet which is right beside the mall. Malls are definitely an experience in Dubai and not just a place to shop, they seem to serve as gathering places and entertainment for locals and tourists alike.

The center of City Walk Mall

An impressive cake display in the mall

When we got to the mall, we stopped for a snack at Smoked Meal Kitchen (S.M.K.). We ended up both ordering the same thing because they were out of the first thing I wanted which was brisket mac and cheese balls. Nevertheless, the spicy chicken fries were delicious and helped Hunter bring his blood sugar back up. 

Yummy fries

After walking around the mall a bit, we headed across the street to Green Planet. The Green Planet is an indoor rainforest with more than 3000 plant and animal species that opened in 2016. We bought our tickets on the discount app Klook which we had first used in Singapore and scanned the QR codes for entry. We took an elevator up to the 4th floor, the top of the high rise rainforest. We weren't quite sure what to expect but everyone said the place was underrated so we were excited to find out. 

Fish tank upon entering

We were met with a beautiful toucan and a blue macaw that actually said hello back to me, but unfortunately, I couldn't get it to do it again on video. Hunter and I also saw a sleeping sloth. We were about to start the rainforest walk, but there was a bat cave to stop by and see. It was a small room with many bats flying around in the dark. I took a really neat picture of one mid flight. 

The bat is the blurry spot in this photo

When we left the bat room, an announcement was made saying a thunderstorm was about to start. It then began thundering and raining, we many birds flying around to find some shelter, and also some playing in the water to take a bath. One bird even landed on Hunter and wouldn't leave. It seemed very interested in Hunter as a worker came and removed it, but the bird came right back! It then also tried to eat a stroller, thankfully not Hunter. 

Hunter's new friend!

We began slowly walking down into the lower floors, enjoying all the colourful birds. On the 3rd floor, there was a worker holding a rainbow python that we got to pet. I also had to use the bathroom, so we took an elevator down to the first floor. When we went back up, we decided to start from the top again because we enjoyed watching the birds and being away from other groups of people. Many birds were now taking a nap, and it was awesome. By starting from the top again, we also saw the cutest little tamarin monkeys ever playing inside an enclosure in the wall. 

Playing in the water

Funny wet floor sign

Super neat tree structure

We kept looking all around as something new continuously popped up. With few fences or dividers, animals were constantly moving around. Hunter noticed a ring tailed lemur in the bottom enclosure which was so cool. As we kept walking, we found the lemur up close and it was meowing! I wish I could have pet it! On the next level, we saw a bunch of lizards and frogs. I got to hold a Madagascar cockroach too. Hunter always laughs at me when I hold the bugs at zoos because I hate bugs in our house. I like to do it in zoo's because it's in a very controlled environment unlike at home. 

Lemur in the bottom of the forest!

Those little monkeys I was talking about previously!

COCKROACH

After looking at all the bugs, we came up on a bench and decided to sit down. Upon looking around, we spotted two big rabbits! Then a huge blue bird walked up. We had no idea what it was so we used Google lens. Without deviated enclosures to provide signage, there was information kind of scattered all over the space instead of outside specific exhibits. Because of this we used Google lens a bunch to identify plants and animals. In this case, it told us the giant blue bird was a fancy species of Pidgeon from the jungle. It was so impressive the variety of animals present. We were on the last part, about to finish our walk in Green Planet, when we spotted the lemur again, and this time with a sunbathing sloth! The lemur kept bothering the sloth which was funny to see, but we guessed it must just be super lonely and just wants a friend. 

Just when we thought we were done, there was a whole other area to see. This was a night creature exhibit. There were Slow Lori's, but unfortunately, we didn't see any. There were also wallabies and more snakes. 

Scorpion

After leaving the exhibit, we sat in the shade drinking some water. We decided to go back to the hotel for a swim. It was lovely to relax and cool down. Our hotel has a really nice pool deck that we enjoy relaxing on as well. 

For dinner, we went to the Dubai Mall and had Logma, a restaurant serving fusion food inspired by traditional Emirati food. I had parathas and Hunter had an authentic Emirati rice and fish dish. We ended up sharing both though and it was delicious!

After dinner and watching multiple fountain shows again, we went back to the hotel, got sparkling clean in the lovely rain shower, and then were asleep before we knew it.