The hardest part about navigating a kayak through a narrow mangrove channel is deciding what to do with the oar. Lose concentration, and it could end up in the trees, along with the crabs.
Crabs climb trees? Yes — I saw them, nestling in holes in the branches just above the waterline while miniature fish swarm by in huge shoals in the clear water below them.
A couple of Laughing Doves (or were they Eurasian Collared Doves?) burst out of the tangled thicket while our kayak thrust deeper down the channel. Two guys in our group struggled to master the craft, perfecting going in the reverse direction and then overturning — easily done — losing their mobile phones and pride.
I was hoping to spot a Collared Kingfisher or a Western Reef Heron, but these would have fled well ahead of us.
This mangrove forest in the Eastern Mangrove Lagoon National Park is the closest to Abu Dhabi city, stretching for about eight kilometres just off Eastern Ring Road. Unbeknown to the average kayaker, there’s an entire fragile ecosystem out there carrying out a terrific balancing act. It consists of mangrove forest, salt marsh and mudflats, and the water supports sponges, worms, crustaceans, molluscs and algae, on which crabs, turtles, marine birds and fish rely. The water is in essence a fish nursery, for it varies from extremely shallow to seven metres deep.
The Eastern Mangrove Lagoon National Park is one of five national parks that are to be protected and developed as laid down in Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, a government initiative aimed at increasing Abu Dhabi’s global reputation.
The Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) oversees the protection of the area.
Keep it clean
“Two patrols operate in the area daily to monitor the ecological conditions and to raise awareness on the mangroves to users of the area, including kayakers,” says Sobhia Akram Al Masri, Senior Media Specialist, EAD.
Along with the Tourism Development and Investment Company, it installed signs with basic information about mangroves and to promote a code of conduct for the area.
Like anywhere in the world, kayakers should behave courteously — throwing rubbish into the water has a serious knock-on effect here. Despite the signs and verbal warnings, some people still insist on being inconsiderate, but the mangroves are generally clean.
Before setting off to explore, it’s worth noting that if you choose your timing carefully, you can get the benefits of both the high and the low tides. During high tide, the challenge is to snake through the narrow side channels where the mangroves crowd in, while at low tide many of the smaller waterways become juicy mudflats, inaccessible by kayak. Yet, as the water recedes it flushes out birds hiding in the dense thicket.
“Egrets, herons, crab plovers, sandpipers and cormorants come and dance at the water’s edge,” says Jefferson Lastimosa, lead guide with Sea Hawk Watersports.
Sure enough, from the deeper waterways kayakers can watch as the once-shy birds skitter down to the mud to grab the best of the rich nutrients exposed at the shoreline.
Sometimes a lone flamingo or two may come to these mangroves, but most live on an island about a kilometre away, says Lastimosa, who also knows where the red foxes live. He shows me a den in the scrub on a beach where we stop for fresh fruit salad and water.
Lastimosa says he saw four cubs emerge from this hole in January last year and has seen tracks in the sand from time to time. The Arabian red fox is widespread and adaptable, managing to successfully inhabit most environments in the UAE.
See for yourself
Sea Hawks Watersports’ mangrove adventures (costing Dh200) depart from the magnificent 222-room Eastern Mangroves Hotel with its Asia-meets-Arabia décor and a particularly striking infinity swimming pool that seems to simply pour right into the lagoon. Until September, the hotel is offering special packages from Dh1,100, which include a room plus a morning kayaking trip through the mangrove maze.
Other companies offering mangrove tours include Noukhada Adventure Company and Al Mahara Diving Centre, both launching from Yas Island or from the Eastern Lagoon near the E48 Substation on Al Salam Street.