This is a bit outdated for my Abu Dhabi readers, but I realized I have some old photos of things we've done that I never got around to writing about. One is Bu Tinah island. This island is off the coast of Abu Dhabi a ways (that's technical for I don't know how far) and was in the running for one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Apparently, anyone can submit a natural 'wonder' and then the world votes for what they think should win that honor. Abu Dhabi went all out trying to raise awareness and generate votes for the wonder in our backyard. Unfortunately, those efforts were in vain as we didn't make the list.
Part of the awareness campaign was an education 'dome' erected on the Corniche and free to the public. The goal was to teach us a bit about the island and the conservation efforts going on there. Here are a few photos from the exhibit.
The red carpet leading into the dome. These domes have started popping up all over Abu Dhabi for various functions. There's another not far from where we live that is a temporary garden center - maybe just for the winter? A very interesting temp structure.
The center of the exhibit was a man made replica of the island and showed the various wildlife that inhabit BuTinah. This variety of life was one of the key selling points for their bid for one of the 7 wonders. (in all honesty, none of it seemed all that impressive compared with a lot of the other wonders on the list) Oh, and did I mention that no one is allowed to visit Bu Tinah island except conversationalist researchers. Makes it a little hard to vote for something you're not even allowed to see.
Along the edge, they had 2-3 turtles and about the same of big ugly fish - I suppose to represent the real inhabitants of Bu Tinah, but actually, it made the whole thing a little depressing. The few creatures looked pretty lonely surrounded by the glitz of the exhibits.
This was the fake turtle on display, his flipper (or whatever turtles call them) would move occasionally in an effort to make it look real, I guess. The lighting was pretty cool, though.
Another creature example. The models were really well done, but made the place feel a bit like Disney World as opposed to a serious education exhibit. But, here in Abu Dhabi that's a lot more appropriate.
The biggest attraction, according to the guides posted around the exhibit, were the computers at which you could vote for the 7 wonders. Don't tell anyone, but we left without voting - I just didn't think Bu Tinah, while cool and interesting, deserved to make the list. Sorry Abu Dhabi!
If you're interested in who made the list, or want to now vote for the 7 natural wonders on each continent, check out the organization's webpage here.
Part of the awareness campaign was an education 'dome' erected on the Corniche and free to the public. The goal was to teach us a bit about the island and the conservation efforts going on there. Here are a few photos from the exhibit.
The biggest attraction, according to the guides posted around the exhibit, were the computers at which you could vote for the 7 wonders. Don't tell anyone, but we left without voting - I just didn't think Bu Tinah, while cool and interesting, deserved to make the list. Sorry Abu Dhabi!
If you're interested in who made the list, or want to now vote for the 7 natural wonders on each continent, check out the organization's webpage here.
No comments:
Post a Comment