Al Areen

Al Areen Wildlife Park is the brainchild of His Highness the Shaikh bin Isa bin Sulman Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain. I guess that when you're interested in wildlife, and you happen to be a prince, you don't just invest in a good pair of binoculars and a few guide books--you buy a lot of almost extinct animals and put them in a park. Al Areen is home to a tedious variety of oryx, and a lot of other small 4-legged animals with horns (goats, deer, ibex, sheep, addax, gazelle). I think the prince would have been quite disappointed with my lack of interest in these animals, but I did find some animals that caught my attention in the smaller zoo area. And let me just say that zoos are always much more interesting in countries where safety regulations are not really the norm...

Have you ever seen a porcupine? I hadn't. Here is a pile of porcupines for your viewing pleasure--I found them surprisingly cute. I wonder if they prefer to sleep in a heap, or if the fact that it was well into the 100s and they only had one little hut for shade had anything to do with their sleeping arrangements. These are the ostriches. I believe this picture was taken before one of them decided that my hand would be a tasty afternoon treat. I think I can see the culprit planning his sneak attack right behind me. Luckily I escaped without any permanent damage, though I did give everyone watching a good show. Remember how I hate birds? I would encourage you to all go out and buy a lovely pair of ostrich skin shoes. Or a purse.
I loved the fros on these guys. I was secretly hoping that they would make themselves useful and bite the highly annoying boy whose parents were complete morons and let him continue in his unruly behavior despite the fact that he was seriously disturbing both the people and the wildlife. And now that I think about it, my less than charitable thoughts probably explain why I got bit by the ostrich later in the afternoon. Karma. It'll get you.
And finally, me and the Brit mom, standing in front of a perfectly lovely toxic-wastesque watering hole. I can see that I need to stop by the royal palace and let the prince know that his bird sanctuary needs a bit of attention.