Zookeeper's Experience @ The Green Planet Dubai

The last time we came to the Green Planet, it had just opened its doors and I was my wearing my little one in a Baby Bjorn. She is now almost 5 years old. Green Planet has literally grown so much since – its foliage, the number of animals, and also the experiences that you can do.

We had the opportunity to review the Zookeeper’s Experience in The Green Planet one afternoon. Yes, you would have likely seen it pop up on your Facebook feed when they were promoting it and let’s be honest – you were probably wondering – 390 AED ? What on earth? What does it actually include?

Well, read on.

What is the The Green Planet?

You haven’t been? It’s that cool tank-looking building next to City Walk 2. Well if you’ve been trying to get a PCR test there lately, it’s the one you stare at while you’re in the queue. That also means you can no longer park there and cross the road, best to park in the Citywalk underground parking, and remember to validate your ticket when you leave Green Planet.

What do you do for 3 hours at the Zookeeper’s Experience?

I’ll let the photos explain it, but in a nutshell – You get a really personal tour of the Green Planet and it’s back of house, where you learn a lot about the animals, how they take care of them, and how they maintain this amazing bio-dome. It’s a hands-on experience, you get to participate – to feed the animals, clean the space (if you wish), you go into the actual areas (this part is so cool because other guests are looking at you, and you’re actually inside with the animals), and a very detailed explanation for everything you see.

Our man for the afternoon was one of the biologists – the very knowledgable and super-patient Mr. Erik, as I have asked my two girls to address him. “Please just call me Erik.” 🙂 He did mention that depending on the age or number of guests (4, max), they slightly adjust the tour to suit.

Our highlights _{(which to be honest was possible everything)} –

Taking live worms and feeding the sugar gliders. These creatures are SO CUTE. The sugar gliders. Not the worms.
Meeting the Anteater close-up in the laboratories and feeding it honey out of a spoon.
Getting into the wallabies enclosure and feeding them carrots
Watching Mr.Erik feed the nocturnal animal-that-looks-like-a-lemur – he literally sticks his furry hands up to grab the grapes.
Feeding chicken to the piranhas (raw meat. of course. C’mon guys)
Feeding live crickets to the iguanas. Such an eww moment haha. And then more live worm feeding action.
Walking through the bat cave. I do not recommend this to those who are claustrophobic.
Walking through the main Green Planet area with all those birds flying around, and in front of you. The lemurs leaping in front of you. Watching the sloth sleep.

The best bit of it all was really just to talk to Erik – to learn from him, to understand all the work they do as biologists. It is a hard work – what they do there – all the back-of-house work they get into. And the girls had a ball of a time, and once they warmed up to him (took 2 minutes) they were asking so many questions – including silly ones of course.

This is definitely an experience they’ll be talking about for a long time. As we went on a Sunday afternoon, we were the only ones there doing the experience which made it even better.

Tips

Go on Monday and they have a 241 deal so it’s 390 AED for two. It’s really quite worth it.
If you don’t want to do that, just pop by for a wander. It’s 120 AED at the gate for the general admission and it’s also in the Entertainer (under 3s are free).
There are ramps for your buggies, however it will probably be easier to wear your baby in the carrier if you are bring them along
Yes, this is open for adults as well. So if you want to book it for a group of friends (4 max) – you can do that.
Bring water as it does get quite warm when you are in the laboratory. Plus you’ll probably sweat your head off when you watch your toddler feed live worms to the sugar gliders 😉
Again – remember to validate your parking before you leave Green Planet.

To Erik – thanks for putting up with my girls. We had a fabulous time. Cheers to the team at the Green Planet.

Book tickets to The Green Planet here.

Zookeeper Experience
The Green Planet Dubai
Price : 390 AED per person
Timing : 8:30 am, or 3:00 pm everyday, 3 hours.
Deal : Every Monday, there is a 241 for the Zookeeper Experience. 195 AED per person!

Disclaimer : We were guests of The Green Planet to review the Zookeeper’s Experience.