We were rather cynical when we saw this blazing signboard at the zoo. So we decided to check it out. Guess what we came across inside? To begin with, we had gone to the zoo on a Sunday. A legion of locals and visitors must have swamped the place and they include hordes of students in their yellow, blue, and even pink uniforms. Eventually the toilets were mobbed by early business transactions with queues snaking about 50m from the entrance. The male toilet was no spared as well by female patrons! I REPEAT. YES. FEMALE PATRONS. I know of Thais being very modest people. But for the women and girls and men to share a toilet is apparently not a very embarrassing affair for them at all. That explains the Best PUBLIC Toilet Of The Year title perhaps. :)

After settling the morning routine for everyone on the travel package, we proceeded to our first stop - The Safari Zoo.

This segment of the zoo is mighty impressive. Visitors drive into the Safari compound in the same car or van they had arrived in. So it is quite an interesting sight to see BMWs, Mercedes and the equivalents parked beside a camel or even the tiger UNCHAINED. Fancy having your nice Porsche scratched by an irritable lion on the prowl. OUCH!

This place may not beat the safari I had been on in Kenya at the start of the year, but it still has its enchanting qualities. Like the above, you encounter a literal zebra crossing.

I do not know what breed of bull that was but I certainly do not want to be in its way when it goes on a rampage. We were told not to wind down our windows thus you can see reflections like the above on most of my pictures.

These deers of some African descent (I think) were just resting alongside the road we were driving on.

Bambi fighting for his mate.

In another section of the safari separated by high electric fences that close behind you like those in Jurassic Park, lions run wild and free. If you ask me, I think they look rather sickly with strange bald patches on and bony structures clearly protruding from some of their bodies.

I was real excited when we arrived at this feeding session. The tigers were all over the place chomping on the raw meat distributed by the zoo keper in the cage. You must be physically there to really sense the air charged with the adrenalin from both the ravenous animals and the wide-eyed visitors in the van. AWESEOME!

I call this animals living in harmony - yes, that is a crane, a bear and a peacock, all within striking distance of each other.

This is for real! A macaw had its beak and claws strategically locked on!

Next : High drama at the zoo!

Labels: travel