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00:00...of extraordinary wonders.
00:01It's epic out here.
00:03Where ancient civilizations...
00:05There were rock inscriptions scattered all over this landscape.
00:09...meet rising modern cities.
00:13I'm Clive Standen.
00:15Time to head the ground running.
00:17And I'm embarking on a journey across the Arabian Peninsula.
00:20This place is unlike anywhere else.
00:23I'm forging far and diving deep.
00:26This is amazing.
00:27Uncovering its best-kept secrets.
00:30A little precarious.
00:31Meeting the people who call this place home.
00:34And the pioneers preserving its natural treasures.
00:37That is remarkable.
00:39I want to show you the beautiful.
00:41It's just a little untouched piece of paradise.
00:43The surprising.
00:44It's an unbelievable sight.
00:46And the heartwarming.
00:47What am I supposed to do?
00:49Exploring the secrets that make this land so captivating.
00:53I really do feel like an archaeologist.
00:56Mum, I'm never coming home.
00:59Wow.
01:00This is Arabia like you've never seen before.
01:04Come on.
01:05There's plenty more to see.
01:14My journey to uncover the hidden gems of Arabia has led me to Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.
01:22Abu Dhabi is best known for its impressive architecture, opulent palaces, and gleaming mosques, as well as the vast desert that surrounds it.
01:34This remarkable land holds countless wonders yet to be discovered.
01:40But before I get a taste of the city, I've been invited on a very special trip out to sea.
01:47The environmental agency of Abu Dhabi has given me exclusive access to a very special island, and I can't wait for you to find out what happens there.
02:00As I leave the city behind, I can't help but admire the skyline, where modern life meets the water.
02:08With 400 miles of pristine coastline, it's no surprise that Abu Dhabi's heritage is deeply connected to the sea.
02:18It's a rich marine ecosystem full of life.
02:23It's become the focus of passionate efforts to protect it, and it's a project that takes me back to one of my childhood dreams.
02:32I actually really, really wanted to be a marine biologist before I was an actor.
02:38I've always had a special connection with the ocean.
02:40I've been mad about sharks and whales and dolphins, and it just brings so much joy.
02:45One of the things I love to do away from acting is any chance I can is to try and get involved in conservation work,
02:51and bring more awareness to how much we actually need this big pool around me,
02:57because the world can't survive without it.
03:02I'm heading to the small island of Butina, situated about 87 miles to the west of the capital city.
03:11It's a secluded spot that sits at the heart of a key conservation project that stretches 4,000 square miles.
03:19Butina is one of the most undisturbed nature reserves in Abu Dhabi, home to numerous threatened marine species.
03:28A little mini off-the-grid island.
03:31Looking forward to this adventure.
03:34Access to Butina Island is restricted, and only a small team of rangers and scientists are allowed to set foot here,
03:41working year-round to study and safeguard this extraordinary ecosystem.
03:46Butina is a place teeming with life, and few people know it better than Hamad al-Jalani, my guide on the island.
04:01Ahmed.
04:02Hey, Claude.
04:03Good to meet you.
04:04Nice to meet you too.
04:05Amazing.
04:06This is a little untouched piece of paradise here.
04:07Yeah, yeah.
04:08Welcome to Butina Island.
04:09What did I catch you doing here?
04:10I was actually just looking at the birds right now.
04:12They're nesting.
04:13It's the time of the year.
04:14Oh, what type of birds?
04:15We have white-cheeked terns, ospreys, and cormorants all over here.
04:19Alongside its colonies of seabirds, Butina also boasts a sizable turtle population, and I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of them while I'm here.
04:28Turtles are endangered all over the world, but here in Butina, they have a chance to find sanctuary in this protected environment.
04:37We're in the middle of the turtle nesting season, so you might be lucky and see some turtles nesting.
04:42I want to learn as much as possible. Let's search for some turtles.
04:45Let's go.
04:49Catching a turtle laying her eggs is a rare privilege, even in peak season.
04:54And with nesting season almost over, the odds aren't exactly in our favor.
04:59But I'm still more than willing to try my luck.
05:07All right, Clive.
05:08These turtles, when they leave the sea to lay their eggs, they're a bit sensitive.
05:12And red lights are something they cannot sense.
05:15Let's go.
05:16Let's do it.
05:17So far, there hasn't been a sign of any new nesting turtles.
05:24The ripples makes it look like it's moving.
05:26But nests that are found are monitored by the scientists.
05:32So, Clive, here we have a live turtle nest.
05:35Right under here, there's roughly around 150 to 200 eggs.
05:39How many are likely to survive when they hatch and start making it to the sea?
05:43Depending on the conditions, but the survival ship can be anywhere from 50 to 80%.
05:48But the hard part is after they hatch.
05:51So the survival ship after they hatch is much lower.
05:54As they're very small and prone to predation.
05:57Actually, out of 1,000 hatchlings, only 1% survives to other turtles.
06:02That little?
06:03Yeah, that little.
06:04Well, hopefully these little ones haven't got far to make it to the sea.
06:07It's right there.
06:08After a long search under the stars, it seems tonight just wasn't our night.
06:14Not a turtle to be seen.
06:16So I think it's best now to get some well-deserved shut-eye and just see what tomorrow brings.
06:22Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
06:32Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
06:37My journey to Abu Dhabi has led me to Butina Island, a nature conservation reserve
06:49that's home to a community of rare turtles.
06:52Last night, they weren't ready to put an appearance.
06:55But straight away, I can tell they're here, ready to play.
06:59That's a big one. Look how big it is.
07:01Oh, yeah. There goes a big turtle there, a big green turtle.
07:04Right in front of us.
07:05Huh?
07:06There he is, right there in front of us.
07:08They're so agile in the water, they move on.
07:10There's a massive... Look at the size of that turtle!
07:12Whoa!
07:14There he goes.
07:16There he goes.
07:19Instantly, we're finding green turtles everywhere.
07:22They're thriving in this climate.
07:24Look, there's one right here in front of the boat.
07:28Oh, she's a beauty.
07:30She's calm as well.
07:32Dinosaur, eh?
07:33Oh!
07:34Prehistoric, eh?
07:35Good, the size!
07:37I don't know.
07:38How many green sea turtles are in this area?
07:44You know, there's anywhere between 200 to 500 at its peak.
07:47It just goes to show what happens when you preserve a piece of nature.
07:52It gives them a haven for them to thrive, you know?
07:55The little ones, they really zoom.
07:57Yeah, yeah.
07:58When they start off small, their color is brownish,
08:01in which they eat sponges and corals, etc.
08:03But as they grow older, they transition to a more greener diet.
08:08So that includes seagrass and macroalgae.
08:10And that actually changes their pigmentation.
08:12So the more seagrass they eat, the more the greener color comes out.
08:16There's one right here.
08:22Oh!
08:23Little baby over here.
08:24There he goes.
08:25Little rocket.
08:26Whoa!
08:27Oh, how quickly you can change direction.
08:29They're agile, yeah.
08:30Yeah.
08:31Is that a turtle there?
08:32That's just a rock.
08:33I think it's moving.
08:34That's a turtle.
08:35That's a massive turtle.
08:36Whoa!
08:37That's a rock, rock.
08:38That's a rock.
08:39Yeah.
08:41Some green turtles as well.
08:43That's the hawk-billed turtle.
08:44They're critically endangered.
08:45It's so amazing to see so many of them just thriving here,
08:49in the waters of Abu Dhabi.
08:53It's not just the animals making a splash here.
08:56The rangers have given me a tip-off about another exciting project taking root on the island.
09:02Mangroves grow in abundance along the coastlines of Abu Dhabi.
09:06And Butina is no exception.
09:09Scientists are studying these mangroves here,
09:11to find out how they evolved and what role they play in hot coastal habitats.
09:17Keen to take me out and ensure I see the groves for myself,
09:19is one of those experts, Amna Alamsouri.
09:26So you're a marine scientist, but you specialize in mangroves.
09:29Mangroves are very unique.
09:31They thrive where no other tree exists.
09:34And so I was very curious, as a marine scientist,
09:38how do they thrive in this area?
09:42What would you say is the main threat to mangroves in the Middle East?
09:45When it comes to human intervention, when it comes to human expansion,
09:50that puts them in a very vulnerable situation,
09:52because they're between the land and sea,
09:54and this is where coastal communities are thriving here.
09:58And so I think the biggest threat is trying to cope with developing,
10:01but also protecting these ecosystems.
10:05What made you decide to focus your career on mangroves?
10:08I want people to see how important they are.
10:11Well, I'm here today. Let's go and see some mangroves.
10:13I'm really excited.
10:14Let's do that.
10:19Why are the mangroves so important to the biodiversity of this island?
10:23If you think of the Arabian Peninsula,
10:24you think of a huge land of desert.
10:27Sand, sand, sand.
10:29But really, in fact, these vegetative habitats
10:32are the only trees that thrive in these areas.
10:35Mangroves have a lot of different roles,
10:39producing so much nutrients and food for all the biodiversity.
10:43Well, their root structure stabilize a lot of the sediment.
10:46They act like a coastal shield for coastal communities.
10:49They capture a lot of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
10:53and store it in the soils.
10:55This is a perfect example of Avicenia marina,
10:59the one type of species that thrives here.
11:01This could be more than 50 years old.
11:04Wow.
11:05And what are all these little, like, almost straws sticking out of the ground?
11:09Yeah, so these are breathing roots.
11:12And these breathing roots are actually very important for the trees
11:15to produce oxygen and store that carbon when the tide is low.
11:20And how deep do the roots and the breathing roots underneath this ground,
11:25how deep do they go?
11:26So the trunks could go down to four to five meters,
11:30but then horizontally it could go hundreds of meters.
11:35Particularly here in Abu Dhabi,
11:36the research that you're doing affects the discoveries all over the world.
11:40Climate is changing, and we've got really extreme temperatures here.
11:43Like, we've got 37 degrees seawater temperatures,
11:46and then it drops all the way to 12 and lower.
11:49We've got more than 70, 75 species worldwide of mangroves.
11:53So this area kind of acts like a natural laboratory for so much research
11:59to try to understand how do these ecosystems and species adapt
12:03to the changes that are happening elsewhere.
12:06It's been a real privilege seeing the vital work scientists are doing
12:10to protect this incredible ecosystem.
12:13But my time on Boutina has to come to an end.
12:16Now it's time to head back to the mainland,
12:19towards the capital, Abu Dhabi.
12:23Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
12:37I'm in Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates in the UAE.
12:52I'm making my way towards the capital,
12:55where in the heart of this bustling city,
12:57I've got an appointment I really can't miss.
13:02This city is full of spectacular buildings.
13:05But no visit would be complete without taking in the most magnificent of them all.
13:14The stunning Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
13:17Named after the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayyan,
13:26this mosque is one of the largest in the world.
13:31An architectural marvel that stands today as an enduring monument to Sheikh Zayed's legacy.
13:40Cultural specialist Mohamed Khaled Al Shamsi is keen to show me around.
13:44Well, Hamed.
13:46Sir Clive.
13:48So good to meet you.
13:49Good to meet you.
13:50This mosque is something else.
13:52Like everywhere I walk, I feel like I'm walking on ground.
13:54Everything I touch is a spectacle.
13:56Talk me through this architectural phenomenon.
13:59Sheikh Zayed had a very passionate vision to create and build a grand mosque.
14:04And he wanted the grand mosque to be a pioneering international centre,
14:08promoting and reflecting our country's core messages and values,
14:11which are tolerance, peace and coexistence.
14:14It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates,
14:17and one of the largest mosques around the world.
14:19It's just colour and spectacle.
14:21When I touch some of the pillars, you see it and you see all these beautiful flowers.
14:25It's only when you touch them you realise that actually it's carved with all these semi-precious stones.
14:29Yes.
14:30Everything, the design, the detail is all being calculated and considered.
14:34And the floor here is something like St. Paul's Basilica in Rome.
14:38The courtyard itself is 31,000 worshippers at the same time.
14:42Wow.
14:43The longest or tallest element we have in the mosque is the minarets.
14:46We do have four with a height of 106 metres.
14:50So these minarets, they're responsible for calling out the prayer song all over the city.
14:55So in history, it allowed the caller of the prayer to get at the top and call for prayer.
15:00Nowadays, thanks to all the technologies, no one has to be climbing five times a day to call for prayer.
15:05But it is still a very important element that can be found in every mosque.
15:10It seems like no fortune was spared.
15:12You've taken everything from the four corners of the world and put it all here to make the most beautiful, peaceful work of art.
15:22This building's artistry shines forth from every angle of its gleaming marble exterior.
15:27And the interior is just as breathtaking.
15:31I had no idea how beautiful it looked on the inside.
15:36And this is the main prayer hall.
15:39It accommodates up to approximately 8,000 worshippers at the same time.
15:44The scale of this place is jaw-dropping.
15:47And while the grandeur above grabs most of the attention, beneath it all lies a design feature far too big to be ignored.
15:55Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
16:05Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
16:10My journey across Abu Dhabi has led me to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the country.
16:24The scale here is nothing short of breathtaking.
16:27But while all eyes are drawn to the magnificence above, beneath my feet is a masterpiece too monumental to overlook.
16:37And this brings us to the most important element in the main prayer hall, which is the carpet.
16:42I was actually thinking how you get a carpet this size into a building of this magnitude.
16:48Is it one piece of carpet?
16:50It is.
16:51It is the largest single piece carpet in the world that was hand knotted, according to Guinness World Record 2007.
16:59It has a total area of 5,400 square meters, with a total weight of 35 tons.
17:0535 tons?
17:0635 tons.
17:07How do you begin to get a carpet that weighs 35 tons in here and through those doors?
17:11This is the difficult part.
17:13So it came as nine different pieces.
17:16They finished hand knotting and joining all the pieces together here in the main prayer hall.
17:22And then I'm just starting to notice as I look up, not only have you got all this natural light coming in,
17:26you've got these amazing chandeliers.
17:28I can see there's this intricate glass, which is making me think Italy, Venice, somewhere like that.
17:33Very close.
17:34You're getting very close to it.
17:35So in total here we have seven chandeliers, and the largest one is the one at the center.
17:40In fact, it is one of the largest chandeliers around the world.
17:43The design of the three chandeliers in the main prayer hall represents a date palm tree, but flipped upside down.
17:50Do you see the cylindrical part?
17:51Yeah.
17:52It represents the trunk.
17:53The concave part represents the front.
17:55The colored globes, they represent the dates and different seasons.
17:59Really?
18:00Yes.
18:01And all the chandeliers were made using Italian morano glass.
18:03Yes.
18:04And Swarovski crystals.
18:05And Swarovski, they're crystals?
18:06Yes.
18:07Oh, wow.
18:08They've used over 40 million Swarovski crystals.
18:11Nothing but the best.
18:15This really is something else.
18:18I mean, somehow very simple, but so grand and over the top.
18:24But you can't help but stand here and think, it doesn't matter what your beliefs are.
18:29There's a sense of peace and tranquility here.
18:32I usually try and find my peace and tranquility in nature, but I mean, when you look at this floor and it's almost glistens like ice.
18:42It may be man-made, but you cannot deny by standing here, taking it all in, it really is a special wonder of Abu Dhabi.
18:54The structure of the mosque is dominated by its four giant minarets.
18:59The word comes from the Arabic for beacon or lighthouse.
19:06It's not often that people are allowed up the minarets, but at the last minute, they've granted me special permission, but I'll have to get my skates on if I'm going to make it up before the sun sets.
19:18I think we can go higher.
19:23See, sometimes, if we go that extra mile, you get to find something quite special.
19:28But I did promise you the best kept secrets.
19:39Wow.
19:40You don't really get a sense of how big this mosque is until you see it from above.
19:52As the prayers echo out across Abu Dhabi's dusky skyline, it signals the end of my time here in the city.
20:13But my Abu Dhabi adventure is far from over.
20:16Next time, I dive deep into Arabian desert culture.
20:22All done, lean back.
20:23Lean back.
20:24Whoa!
20:25Navigate some unexpected haggling.
20:27Here we go, two for one.
20:28Two for one.
20:29Two for one.
20:31What am I supposed to do?
20:35And encounter wonders in the desert.
20:37It's epic out here.
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