Day 35: Are we still in Abu Dhabi?

Biking with Kyle did not work out, but we have a fascinating tour of the Falcon Hospital. After lunch a tour of the Zayed Grand Mosque.

The falcon hospital is near the airport, so we leave about 9:00 for a 10am tour. From their early start as falcon veterinary, now they do full rehab, boarding, pharmacy, operating room and take other animals. Plus have much nicer grounds.

gardens, fountain, falcon head sculpture

Operating room, one of two. 

First off, falcons are rich man's pet costing $100,00 or more. Peregrine, Saker and Gyr falcons have different sizes and colorations. Used on passport and money in UAE.

We learn a lot, including that falcon hunting is prohibited in UAE, so locals take their falcons to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan etc to hunt. Falcons can have their own passport, travel on a plane (first class, not economy, so we won't see them ;-). Can kill and carry multiple times its own weight. Wears a radio transmitter so can be tracked throughout its hunting range.

We get to see sedation and simple claw trimming. Grabbing the falcon to sedate it takes coordination and good reflexes, even from the experienced handler. 

Waiting for her spa day

Wingspan of 1.2 meters on a 1 kilo bird. No wonder it can lift 3kg.

Bird under sedation gets talon trimming and shaping. A little lotion at the end but no polish.

Doc takes the bird's sedation mask off and keeps talking, showing us the bird's beak, teeth, talons etc. Fortunately he calls partner over and they hood and take care of bird as it wakes up, no unleashing of the predator fury today.

After that we all get to hold and pet one -- stroke it slowly and calmly, but don't get near the talons. You got that right! 

Then we get to see the bird eat some fresh quail. Good thing Blogger does not accept video, there is a lot of crunching going on as the falcon chows down. Our guide points out how the bird flares its wings to cover and protect the prey when even its trusted handler comes close. Definitely a fearless top predator.

Don't go lookin' at my food, pal.

Most amazingly, with their hoods on a dozen of the birds will sit in close proximity with us clustered around. All totally unfazed. Hoods off and it would be bedlam with feathers flying and all fighting.

After the visit, as we wait for a taxi to the mosque, or to lunch, I see I have an email cancelling my mosque reservations. What the heck? As we start to re-plan our afternoon a second email arrives 10 minutes later confirming my reservation. With the taxi driver idling, I call and they say we are still on. To the mosque!

We get a hummus/tahini/labneh plate with pita for lunch. It's in the mall at the mosque, which was apologetically described to us yesterday. Actually it is air conditioned AND offers (overpriced) food and bevs within walking distance of the mosque, so serves a vital function. 

As we find out a few minutes later, it also offers sale of men and women's clothing to meet the gender discriminatory Islamic clothing standards. Kathy's use of a shawl is deemed non-compliant, so she must buy a cover-up. Argh.  We also see a handful of American couples wearing full on Islamic garb, likely hiding shorts and t-shirts underneath.

She looks great! 

The Mosque is every bit as large and grand and lustrous as it could be. Holds teens of thousands of worshippers. Uses the best marble and glass/stone inlay with best artisans from the world. Having a tour takes us through spaces the regular visitors cannot access, walking on the 35 ton carpet that took 1300 women knotters two years to make (2+ billion knots). The chandeliers are enormous and impressive.

As we enter, massive scale.

Even my blue shirt feels gaudy in this land of subdued colors and covering up.

Yes there are tourists here, plenty of them. We just wait and wait to get a clear shot.

Lots of inlaid stone in the marble courtyard.

Abdul our tour guide does a great job.

Interior 

The chandeliers are massive. Largest is 12 tonnes 

Clock shows the five times for prayer and sunrise 

Detail of carpet, it is much much larger than this.

Exterior colonnade

Reflecting pool with cool patterns 

After a coffee we ride back to the hotel. We are actually able to buy stamps at the hotel gift shop. The proprietor says he will mail postcards for us -- I am a bit skeptical, but actually more with the hotel factotum who tries to intermediate for me. 

Maybe we will swim in the pool tonight. Then into Qatar airways for our flight to Madrid tomorrow! 

Our hotel is the copper colored one

After relaxing we walk to the Founder's Memorial and Uber to dinner. 

Entrance gate building at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Hotel. 

ADNOC tower, office building, and Founder's Memorial

Founder's Memorial had three dimensional representation of Sheikh Zayed's face. I wonder how this goes over in an Islamic nation -- though he is revered as leader and founder of UAE.

We are ready to leave UAE. The luxe lifestyle, funny money, many rules, and obvious caste system all feel oppressive, even as the public pronouncements promote living together in goodwill. Maybe I'll get my good humor back in Madrid!