Christmas Day!!!!!!

Our day started pretty late today. Everyone was still exhausted from the Ferrari world experience. On the itinerary was Yas water world and perhaps the Sheikh Zayed Mosque (which eventually did not happen). We left the hotel for the water park at 3.00pm and spent over 4 hours there. Water parks are just too much to combine with any other activity. Truth is even if we got there earlier, we wouldn’t have made it anywhere else. It takes up the entire day and you’ll be exhausted afterwards.

YAS WATER WORLD

How do I begin to describe one of my best Christmas experiences till date? Going to Yas water world on Christmas day was the best thing we did this holiday. Initially we were worried about the crowd and queues we might have to face to get on rides. Ferrari world was crowded and we had to get gold passes to beat queues. Thankfully, we encountered none of that at the water park. The crowd was the right amount and the longest we had to wait for a ride was 5 minutes. It was the perfect afternoon and we had such a blast! 

Water Parks are not new to me. I’ve visited Wild Wadi, Dubai in the past. But this was extra special because it was with my favorite humans in the world, my little family. As we got into the park, I was impressed with the ambiance of the entire space. The decor was Arabian themed and they stayed true to the theme in every corner. The lamp shades, cabanas, souk everything was traditionally styled and so chic.

At the reception, they requested to see our 2 park passes and suggested to us we book a cabana. If you are going to the park with a large crowd or family, I’ll recommend getting a cabana. It will set you back a few $$$ but it’s the most ideal thing especially when visiting with kids. The cabanas cost us AED 399 and we got towels, drinks, fresh fruits, one free diving experience pass, sunbeds and a butler. After changing to our bathing suits, we dropped off our personal belongings at the cabana and headed to the Marah Fortress.

The Marah Fortress was the only water play structure ideal for the little Nomad. It had slides, dumping buckets, a water-shooting geyser, water cannons, and lots of other interactive features keep kids entertained.It was exciting to see the little nomad get on the baby slides (accompanied) and get dunked in water. She even got the shivers. However, she kept screaming “More! More! More”. I had to put on my mama hat on, insist she gets a change of clothes and stays out of the water.We proceeded to explore the water world without her. Just like the Ferrari world, the Yas water world will be best enjoyed by older kids. Most rides had a 1.2M height restriction.

Our first ride was a water roller coaster that takes you around the premises with your legs suspended in the air. Its the longest suspended roller coaster in the middle east and measures 550 meters. We got on 7-8 rides in total and we were knocked out by the time we were done. The park closes at 6.00pm but they give time to relax, pack up and leave. We rounded up around 7.00pm, grabbed a couple of keepsakes at the entrance, picked up our photos and went to the hotel to sleep.
 

BOXING DAY

Its Boxing Day!!!

This was our last day in Abu Dhabi and I ventured out solo this time. Everyone had a different itinerary; hubstar had a meeting in Dubai, the little nomad had to explore the kids experience zone at the hotel and I HAD to see the Sheikh Zayed mosque.

Kids play zone at yas viceroy

Your itinerary in Abu Dhabi is incomplete without a visit to the mosque. I mean who goes to Abu Dhabi without seeing the mosque right? Right.

SHEIKH ZAYED MOSQUE

Okay I lied, this is filtered

The first time I heard or saw a photo of this mosque was during the Rihanna controversy.  Her photos were exceptionally stunning however, she was bashed for taking sultry photos at the holy ground which most people saw as disrespectful.  After those photos, I mentally put down the mosque as a must visit whenever I find myself in the UAE. I loved every bit of my time there and I was just marveled at the precision of the entire structure. There will be a more detailed post on my experience at the mosque and how I got just three “worthy” personal photos. Till then, enjoy these unfiltered images of the structure itself.
 

DINNER AT THE ETIHAD TOWERS (63RD FLOOR)

It was our last night so we had to do it right. Our flight back to Lagos, Nigeria was at 2.35am and our plan was to hit the airport 11.00pm. After packing up our we proceeded to have dinner at Rays Grill, Etihad Towers. Our dinning experience was as fine as it gets!

Savoring steak falling right off the bone with the view of the Abu Dhabi sky line was the perfect way to round up our Abu Dhabi Adventures!

We are finally back home in Lagos, Nigeria and already looking forward to our next Christmas Holiday. Some of the highlighted activities will have full posts which will contain more details like budget, how to get there and any additional information that will make your visit better!

We hope you are having a great time with friends and family wherever you may be. We wish you a happy new year in advance!

Catch up on all our Adventures #InAbuDhabi ; Getting Ready , Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 & 4 and Day 5 & 6