Sharjah Things to Do

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Just by looking at the gigantic wheel hovering above us makes our knees start to wobble. But it's something that we got to do. So we waited till it started operating at 730 pm.

Once inside, we instantly felt safe because each cabin is fully-airconditioned and fully-enclosed with tempered glass. We felt even more hi-techie as there are several buttons, each with a specific purpose, that are quite within our reach:

- the emergency button (maybe to stop for barfing)
- the aircon button (maybe to help us breathe when the air pressure is way too high)
- the light button (maybe to achieve that dramatic effect when we're taking photos)
- the eject button (which we did not dare touch)

We estimated the total diameter at maybe 50 to 60 meters -- just by basing it on a few 10 to 15-storey buildings surrounding the big wheel.

It's an amazing, slow, vertigo-inducing six-round ride which allowed us to see Qanat Al Qasba in all its night splendor.

So i must say that the "Eye of the Emirates" is a must-do when in Sharjah. And hey, the above-mentioned buttons were left untouched because with the spectacular bird's eyeview of Sharjah by night, vertigos were completely forgotten.

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In this center you'll see the Flora and Fauna of the Arabian Peninsula. There is a special hall for nocturnal animals where you can see Owls, foxes, Blind fishes and Bats. There are halls for Insects, snakes, Birds, Rodents, and mammals like wild Cats, Sand Cats, few species of Foxes, Jackal, Lizards, striped Hyenas, wolfs, Baboons and Leopards.The entire facility is climate control. The only animals out side are the last 4 on the list but you'll be in A/C area. Every thing is labeled in Arabic and English.

The visit is very educational. The Museum is closed on Tuesday “don’t believe the web site which says Monday”. Open daily from 9- 5:30, Fridays 2-5:30. A combined ticket for the Wild life Center, The Little Animal farm for Children and SHARJAH NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM will cost you 15 DH. or 30 dirham per family. You'll probably need. At least 4 hrs to see all three centers which are next to each other. The is a little canteen next to the Baboon cage!!

If you have 3 days, you can see most of the stuff I mentioned here.

Day 1: You'll have to rent a car for day one to get to the Arabian wild life center, the Sharja natural history, the Animal Hose and Discovery Center. IF you don't have kids you can skip the last 2.

Day2: You can visit The Archeology Museum, the Scientific museum and Al-mahatta museum. You can skip the Science museum if you don’t have kids.

Day 3: you can walk around in "old Sharjah" Heritage area in the morning and you’ll see everything. Some of these sites needs no more than few minutes. Than walk or take a taxi to the Art area and walk around there and see the exihibits.

Al hosn Fort is not worth the visit. Just take a picture from the out side as you pass by it.

You might be able to do all of that in 2 days if you press your self.

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I am lost to what to call these houses. The local name is 'Areesh. They used to be very common 60 years ago in the area. They are made of Palm tree leafs. You can see them @ the Heritage area as you walk around. @ the time of my visit it was closed and I could not enter.

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This is a good example of the local a house and architecture. This house was owned by a local Pearl trader and was built in the 19th century. The nice thing about this house was the fact that it was furnished. Bait Al Naboodah was not furnished when I visited it.

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I did not try to buy anything so I can't comment on the prices. walk around and have look @ old local architecture, esp that the place is air conditioned. There are few basic canteens and plenty of shops

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This is a very nice Museum to visit. All display rooms and exhibits try to give an Idea about life in the area prior to the oil boom. There is a room for local currencies including some strange Hair clip looking silver coins!! There are all sorts of currencies Local,British, Indian and Iranians; that were used in the country. Also there are rooms for stamps, musical instruments, Herbal Medicine cosmetics, local dresses and various occupations in the past. All displays are explained in Arabic and English like all other museums

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A nice museum contains something of every thing. It had few halls including The Kaaba hall with its Kaaba Covering. The Islamic Mints Hall which has a big collection of coins covering all dates and geographical areas. There is also a manuscripts hall and an Arabesque and Ceramic Hall. All displays in Arabic and English