Tequila Snakebite

Gulfnews: Tequila the chimp dies of snake bite:


"Abu Dhabi: Tequila, the young chimpanzee of Abu Dhabi, died in Al Ain Zoo on August 6.

A wild snake at the zoo is believed to have killed her.

According to a summary of a report on the death obtained by Gulf News, the zoo curator was informed at 10.30am on August 6 that the chimp had slipped into a coma."


The full article was in today's Gulf News as well as a 'lovely' photo of poor Tequila spreadeagled on the ground, looking, well, dead. Couldn't we have had a photo of Tequila taken at a happier moment? Like for instance when she was on the Animal Planet channel?

So there are poisonous snakes roaming around Al Ain Zoo? No cause for alarm there, don't they say snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them?

Al Ain Firsts

This will become a regular feature on Al Ain Taxi as we bring you 'Al Ain Firsts'.

DARK CHOCOLATE BOUNTY BARS COME TO AL AIN!

Available at 'Al Ain City Centre' supermarket near Diwan Roundabout, Abu Dhabi Road.
I always hated the milk ones. Chunder*, I'll collect my ten free bars next time I'm in.


*Chunder is the manager's name, really.

 

One reason why Al Ain drivers are so bad:

The driving schools. What a joke!

If you had the misfortune to not be on this list of people who can convert their license to a UAE one then it's off to the 'murroor' for you to get your learner's card.

So now you're a learner. What do you learn? To drive safely?

What you do learn is what a stitched-up scam the whole thing is. For a start, if you've ever been to Al Ain you may've noticed the wrecks that people are 'learning to drive' in are the same as the wrecks the taxi drivers are driving in. This may be because the vast majority of people that learn to drive in Al Ain are subcons wanting to get a license so they can drive a taxi, so why not get them learning on a real death-trap Nissan Sunny.

Did you know that the test for a driving instructor is virtually the same as a learner's test?

Ever wondered why you see learner taxis driving up and down in the local mosque car park on a Thursday? They're practicing how to reverse around a corner, that vital skill which is more important that teaching people not to tailgate, cut-up and keep to the speed limits. There's even a seperate test for this 'reversing round a corner' skill and one for what they call 'garage parking'. Once this test has been passed then they let you out for ten minutes on the road with a minibus full of other learners trundling behind. If you pass this one you have your license.

Of course, ten minutes is a long time to which you could be subjected to all kinds of tricks and games including having your rear view mirror turned round, being told to drive down a restricted road etc. I've heard first hand of this happening.

When can we have some proper driving schools in Al Ain with proper cars and decent instructors?

Welcome to Al Ain

Welcome to the UAE's Garden City, a 90 minute drive down the 66 from Dubai and you think you're in another world. Because you are. This is Al Ain where life revolves around Carrefour and a big night out is Thursdays at Luce's. You have been warned....