Wild Animal Park

This Saturday we took the kids to the Wild Animal Park in Shanghai.  It was a 45 minute taxi ride, but so worth the it.  There is another zoo much closer to the apartment but we've been told we wouldn't like it since the animals are kept in cages.  At the Park the animals all had outdoor enclosures and indoor ones.  There were also large garden areas to sit and relax or have a picnic lunch and although the Chinese don't seem to have much respect for the animals, we saw trash in many enclosures, the park was very clean. The weather was perfect and the park was not very crowded.  This Wednesday is a holiday and we were told many people work Saturday and Sunday so they can have Monday and Tuesday off so it worked to our advantage. 

One of the big differences here is the close interaction you are allowed with the animals.  For about $10 Lily and I got to ride a camel.  It was so cool sitting up so high, Lily didn't seem as excited but she did say she liked it.





 

Another one of the very cool experiences with feeding the giraffe.  Lily got a bit nervous when a second giraffe came over for snack so I ended up helping out.  Despite the fact that she didn't like their black tongues she said it was her favorite part of the day. 

Lily has long been fascinated with elephants so when I saw the opportunity to sit on one I jumped at it.  Although a bit hesitant at first she really liked it and even gave her a pat on the head.   I should mention you can also be held in the elephants trunk if you are interested, using the handle on her forehead for balance.





The second half of the park was seen by bus.  This part of the park was open areas for the animals to roam about, the different species were kept separate though.  Can't have the lions munching on the zebra.  Although, they did feed both the lions and the tigers each a live chicken.  This is a shot of the lioness making a grab for her snack in the shoot that I was standing next too.  Charlie didn't like having the cat jump up so close to him though.  And no, we did not see any bloodshed since the victor took off with their snack.

Our last stop was the sea lion show.  Lily insisted that we sit in the very front row, luckily we did not get wet.  At the end of the show Lily got to get a kiss from the sea lion.  After which  she told me that she didn't like his beard. 

We had an awesome day with so many great experiences and considering that we paid less than $200 for the taxi, tickets, food, all the extras with the animals, and souvenirs, it was also a hell of a bargain.  I think this has been my favorite outing so far!

Today we spent close to home having brunch at Julie's, a new favorite of ours, where we can get a good American breakfast and then to Carrefour for some shopping.  After naps Lucas and Charlie headed to AP Plaza where he ordered himself two new custom made dress shirts for $30.  There are some definite pluses to living here.