This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph (click here)
Like most of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates, the island of Sir Bani Yas isn’t what you’d call naturally lush. Just off the shores of a desert kingdom, you’d expect it to be a bit thin on trees and shrubbery. Take away every trace of fresh water, season with the fact it’s mostly salt and you’d expect it to be as inviting as an asteroid.
Sir Bani Yas is named after the tribe of salt miners who used to live there – they either died or left a century ago when the last of the water sources which had sustained people for thousands of years ran dry. But then in 1971 the late and revered ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan paid a visit and fell in love with the place.
Even back then, the Sheikh was a very rich man. What made him rich is plain to see from driving along the E11 highway (straight as His Excellency’s rule) towards Sir Bani Yas west from Abu Dhabi City. The oil refineries, flare stacks and tank farms of towns like Al Ruwais suddenly flower from the vast dusty plain, thirsty tankers waiting offshore.
Like many rich men, the Sheikh wanted to use his wealth to improve things. So Abu Dhabi is the world’s biggest investor in sustainable energy and has the world’s first zero-carbon city. Pretty far-sighted when you’re sitting on virtually limitless petrodollars, and making a parable out of the country’s more profligate, live for today neighbours.
Another thing Sheikh Zayed wanted to improve was the desert. Turning the whole of Abu Dhabi green was a bit of a stretch even for his wallet, so he decided to start more modestly with the biggest island in his Kingdom. Let it be green, he said. So they planted two and a half million trees, each one needing thirty cubic feet of salt and sand to be dug out to make room for imported topsoil. Thousands of miles of irrigation pipe were installed. They replanted an entire mangrove forest around the coast, now home to turtle, stingray, dugong and flamingo.
Then they started on the animals. Apart from the shortage of things animals like to eat (plants, each other), most of the native species in the Gulf haven’t done well out of high-powered rifles, 4x4 vehicles and a lack of non-lethal diversions for the younger element. Not many years ago, for instance, the Arabian oryx was on its last legs. But the Sheikh’s captive breeding programme has been so successful that the oryx is no longer an endangered species and has even been reintroduced to the mainland.
Next His Excellency’s minions built two palaces (one for the men and one for the women, an idea of which my wife thoroughly approves), a couple of splendid majlis (meeting places) from where the Sheikh could survey his creation, a seaport, a runway, the region’s first wind turbine and a guest house on the north shore looking out into the Gulf.
Nearly forty years after the order was given, that guest house has been taken over by Anantara and turned into the island’s first hotel, the five-star Desert Islands. Getting there from the UK is not completely straightforward, involving flying to Abu Dhabi city, a two and a half hour drive (although there’s a floatplane service), a boat ride and a bus across the island. But a perfect flight with Etihad, living up to the national airline’s fine reputation, and breaking the journey each way with a night at the excellent Shangri-La set us up for an awestruck look around the capital.
The city of Abu Dhabi is startling. As with Sir Bani Yas, the country’s wealth means that just about anything that can be willed can be done. The Sheikh Zayed mosque is a vast – and even tasteful - monument in pearl and gold, straight out of Scheherezade. The staggering Emirates Palace is proof that you simply can’t have too much gold leaf in a hotel lobby. The boys were thrilled by the futuristic Formula One track. A new Louvre, a new Guggenheim and much more are being built on a new island by the world’s best architects. And so superlatively on.
Heading out to Sir Bani Yas by car, first impressions were less good – the mainland jetty has some of the industrial feel of Al Ruwais. But the welcome was warm and the boat ride fun (a strong north-wester meaning a choppy sea) and once on the island we started to glimpse oryx, eland and gazelle among the trees. The hotel itself has been carefully furnished and smiling, attentive staff were quick to make us welcome in the Bedouin-style tent outside the lobby. As usual the twins were straight into the pool, overlooking a beach and the blue waters of the Gulf. Those waters can be a little chillier than you might expect, but a rock reef just off the hotel teems with giant grouper, barracuda and the biggest angel fish I’ve ever seen.
Our room was comfortable and manager Andre Erasmus (leaving to open another Anantara in Vietnam) has recruited an excellent team including one of the region’s top chefs, the outstanding Anthony Gallo – the hotel’s fish restaurant Samak has been voted one of the top five in the Gulf. Outside the hotel visitors to the island are looked after by TDIC, the national tourism company. There’s little hint of the bureaucracy you might expect from a government agency – our guide Clayton turned out to be an enthusiastic South African wildlife expert and sportsman.
With his help we took the kids (even the ten year olds) on challenging mountain bike rides on hard-packed sand with some stiff climbs and swooping downhills through orchards of frankincense and olives past ostriches and gazelles and through the stark, parched landscape still untouched by the Sheikh’s green fingers. A game drive showed us cheetah resting after a kill and breeding programmes for the once-extinct Arabian oryx. We followed Clayton in kayaks through the mangroves, a new one planted for every visitor. Then driving back from an evening lesson at the archery range animal-loving daughter spotted a mountain gazelle in distress by the side of the road. Its spectacular bare-hands capture by Clayton (with a bit of help from Dad) and safe delivery to the vet made the high point of her trip.
Desert Islands is still a work in progress. The task of nature conservation, by definition, can never be finished and it takes a very long time to transform such a harsh environment. There’s more to do in making the island truly sustainable too, but soon more facilities like diving and horseriding will be added and there’s even talk of building Maldives-style resorts on some of the outlying atolls.
There are more spectacular game parks and more beautiful beaches, but few five-star hotels can offer both right outside the door. And it’s hard to think of anywhere better than Sir Bani Yas to see what will and wealth can create, out of almost nothing at all.
This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph (click here)
ESSENTIALS
Prices at Desert Islands Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi start around £389 per night for a Deluxe Seaview Room including breakfast and two island excursions. Call +971 2 801 5400, email resdirs@anantara.com or visit www.anantara.com. Prices at the Shangri-La Hotel, Abu Dhabi start around £240 per night for a standard Deluxe Room. Call +971 2 509 8630, email reservations.slad@shangri-la.com or visit www.shangri-la.com. Ian Henderson flew with Etihad (www.etihad.com for bookings) – return Coral Economy seats from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi start around £320 per person. (Correct at time of writing)
Oh, and build a couple of palaces while you’re at it – one for me and one for the ladies.
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