Abou Dhabi sits where the sands of the Arabian desert meet the waters of the Gulf.

A lot of people come here for the glorious beaches, toe whiz around on their jet skis or idle on their luxury yachts.

But today I'm going to be seeing slightly different side to the city's coastlines by exploring the Mangroves National Park.

It's a pocket wilderness that has somehow survived the heart of the city.

A splash of green in the urban cityscapes.

A great way to get up close and personal with the mangroves and their environment.

And the wilderness is to go by kayak.

Hey, Louise.

Hi.

Nice to meet you too.

Are you all set?

Yeah, I guess this is what we're going out in today.

This is gonna be a mode of transportation.

You'll need one of these.

Bet.

Drink.

Beautiful color on May.

Okay.

Best way to get in.

The cock is bum first.

So great.

Basically sit down first, then put your legs in.

Well, you've made it look very easy now.

Wonderful.

Alright, professional.

Let's go have an adventure.

What are the eastern mangroves?

These mangroves is actually a park.

This is a natural marine park.

It's not planted.

This has been around for hundreds of years, and it's a habitat for about 60 species of birds, along with sea life, along with insect life.

Just literally right behind me.

Is the city skyline all like?

Is that a craft?

Yep.

That's your purple tree climbing crab.

They actually have a symbiotic relationship with tree.

So what they do is they pull off a leaf taken into that little holes creates fertilizer for the tree tree does attract a lot of its prey.

It's so nice kayaking.

Best way to do it.

No noise pollution.

That's the reason why they use kayaks.

It doesn't influence the environment.

Yeah, this is so nice.

I feel like I could lose myself up.

You feel quite small, even Just sat here like this.

A lush environment is stretching out all around us as far as the eye can see.

It does it give you a sense of hope for the future of the environment.

To see this a little pocket of nature, literally right next to you in the heart of this city.

It does give me hope.

Yes.

Provided that everybody around this place realizes how important this habitat is.

E think that it's like such a contrast of the city.

It's known for its wealth.

There is out here, it's free.

E think this is a bit of that?

Well, to this place for me is everything.