Ursa International

Ursa was asked by the Sahara Development Company to assist them with a Petting Farm for the children's area of their luxury shopping/eating and Nightlife destination in Kuwait City. They had a plan for it to be inside an existing Horse Barn and were uncertain about how to make it all happen. On my review of their concept for Pony rides, Camels, petting farm animals as well as Kangaroo, Llama, Deer, ground birds and Ostrich, I suggested that a site visit was in order. They were kind enough to agree and I soon found myself (after two very long flights) in Kuwait City at the very high end Sahara Country Club guest accommodations in the middle of the night. My three day site visit was eye opening to say the least. We reviewed their site, met with one of the owners, got to travel to his thoroughbred horse farm and to a family farm attraction to get an understanding of competition. We also enjoyed meals at one of their high end restaurants as well as a lunch at an extreme indoor mall.

The resulting plan took the petting zoo experience outdoors into a new Petting Paddock so that the children can meet the animals outdoors instead of behind a stable gate. The paddock fences are lined with shade trees and 'artificial' palms and climbers inside the paddocks as well as the Silo, give shade for the visitors and animals. This is a true "Red Barn" farm experience without the hot and smelly indoor atmosphere. There will be two ride experiences plus the petting area as pay experiences within an overall free walk-through. There is an indoor Birthday Party Room in the barn and a behind the scenes visit to the animals if requested, but the barn is essentially a work environment and a shelter for night and extreme weather conditions.

These are preliminary in nature and have been presented to the Owners and directors for their review. There is much to do once it gets approved for design and construction but due to Covid-19, we wait for final design and construction.