July Visit, Part 16 - Seeing the Animals
Although I loved zoos as a kid, I'm not so fond of them now that I'm involved with animal activism. Still, I can't resist the lure of taking a wide-eyed child to see the animals live and up close. Zoos like the one in Guadalajara (which was no way near as bad as the one I used to visit in Pakistan) are especially bittersweet, because they have less money for good habitats, but that must be weighed against the fact that the kids of that country have so much less opportunity than others to view and learn about wildlife. Ideally, children ought to be taken on safari to see live, wild animals in their natural environment ... but kids like Paola will probably NEVER have such an opportunity. She may not even get to watch Animal Planet on Mexican TV.
Rosa confirmed that Paola had never seen live animals before (other than the domestic ones at her house). She seemed as excited as any 4-year-old would be, but I couldn't tell if she was MORE excited than normal since kids her age maintain a fairly high level of enthusiasm just as a general rule.
Rosa confirmed that Paola had never seen live animals before (other than the domestic ones at her house). She seemed as excited as any 4-year-old would be, but I couldn't tell if she was MORE excited than normal since kids her age maintain a fairly high level of enthusiasm just as a general rule.
After entering the zoo, the first thing we saw was a hippopotamus ... a plastic, ride-able one, perfect for a photo op. The hippo was hotter than Hades, so I stretched my legs out for the girls to straddle so they wouldn't get burned.
Next, we saw flamingos, the REAL hippos, the restroom, a monkey island, and the kangaroo pen. That's it, animal-wise, which leaves plenty of the zoo left for Paola to see when the next sponsor visits her!
Miguel and Barbara - same hippo, different location
Real, live hippos
Watching the monkeys
1 comments:
Your video brought back memories of last year climbing back up all those stairs. Going down was bad enough with my poor eyesight and bad balance but I just don't do stairs or hills!! It took Miguel pushing me from behind and his Mum and sister hauling on either arm to get me back up to the exit. You might think it was a photo op. leaning on the hippo but it was actually my trying to get my breath back!! What a shame you spent so much for the entrance fees and saw so little. At least you saw the real hippo's and kangaroos whereas we fed the giraffes in the wild.
Keep up the good reporting work.
Cheers
Barbara
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