At the ticket counter, I held up 1 finger and said satu(one). Instead of paying the published rate of 35 RM (around 12 USD), I was only charged 18 RM (around 6 USD). Maybe there was a discount I didn't know about?
Nevertheless, I started my trip by getting a map (2 RM). The map was a big help later when I got lost finding the lion enclosure. The zoo is a big place. According to their website, the zoo covers about 45 hectares. So, a map may be handy.
I started first by going to the zoo's aquarium. Before getting to the aquarium, you get to pass by the zoo's Humboldt penguins. It can be hard to get pictures because the glass is always frosted but seeing these penguins waddle on land and glide underwater is a rare sight.
After the penguins I went to the aquarium. The aquarium mostly holds freshwater fish from the region. If you watch River Monsters, you may recognize some fish like the goonch and the snakehead.
I spent a lot of time in the aquarium. I never knew watching fishes swim by can be so hypnotizing. When I got back to my senses, I realized that I still have a lot of zoo to cover.
I planned to go see the hippos but sadly, they were all either submerged, or hiding inside their pens - no luck there. So, I decided to continue with the tour. The animal collection in the zoo are different from the ones in Manila although there are common ones like the Malayan sun bears, tapirs, and other Southeast Asian species. If you've been to the Manila Zoo and Avilon, you've seen one bear cat, you've seen them all.
Before you say that this is not an interesting place, there are a lot of interesting exhibits to keep you going deeper into the zoo. One thing about their exhibits is that you rarely see animals behind cages. Usually, they are just restrained by deep moats or concrete blocks disguised as rocks. This shows how much the zoo planners understand their animals and how much planning went into designing the exhibits.
One exhibit that really impressed me were the gaurs. These are the probably biggest cows that I have ever seen. All muscle and horns.
Another interesting about the park are their flamingos. They have two varieties - the Carribean (the really pink one) and the Greater flamingo (the not-so pink one). I learned something about flamingos in this trip: when you close your eyes and listen, they sound a bit like chickens.
Of course, the stars of the zoo are the big cats. The tigers and the lions are kept in enclosures surrounded by wide moats. The brochure even says that the tigers sometimes go for a swim! Unfortunately, the lions and the tigers were having their siesta by the time I got there and all I really wanted was a shot of the lion looking kingly. Instead, he was looking more like the king of the couch lying down and snoozing.
Tired of waiting for the lions to wake up, I decided to take a rest by the lake and have a drink. This is where I noticed that the lake was home to a flock of painted storks, pelicans, ibises, and swans. They were not caged and were flying around the lake. I really wanted a shot of one of the birds flying and silhouetted by the afternoon sky. I spent a lot of time waiting for a bird to come at the right angle. After getting frustrated, I decided to go back to the lions and got a shot of the king of the jungle showing his big fangs.
After the lions, I went back to get my flying-stork-against-the-sky shot and got it. For me, this was the most memorable shot of the whole trip. On land, the storks seem so unsteady but when they fly, it looks so effortless. To get this shot, I found a nice cool spot under the trees near the lake's shore offering me an unobstructed view of the lake. After I took this shot, I heard a loud, wet splat! about 5 meters away and saw a bird on the tree above me dropping bombs. I looked up and directly above me were about 5 more birds.
Overall, the zoo is a nice place to visit if you're an animal lover. The exhibits may need a bit of touching up but are not your average animal-in-a-cage type so you won't get bored going from one exhibit to another. And the lake birds are definitely worth seeing. I recommend being in the zoo during the scheduled feeding times to see the animals doing something else other than sleeping.
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