Animaya

Tuesday, June 10, our class excursion was to one of the two zoos in Mérida. Animaya, which is the name of the zoo, is quite small but very interesting. I took over 120 pictures (because I love the zoo), but I am only going to post my very favorites here.

Animaya is special because you can get very close to the animals. After walking around the zoo (it took about an hour), we "went on safari." We piled into a jeep--all 11 of us--and rode through the enclosures. We were close enough to touch a giraffe! Of course we had to keep our hands inside, but he was right next to us! I love giraffes! Then there were zebras and deer and llamas and peacocks and emus (SO ugly) and ostriches and ducks with BABIES and swans and flamingoes and...iguanas. There are always iguanas. There were also lions, but they were in their own cage. We didn't go on safari through there. Not really sure why :)

Anyway, here are my favorite pictures/moments.

There were three lions: Papa, Mama, and Junior. Mama is posing here for us. When we didn't get tired of her and leave, she stood up and paced back and forth along the fence for a moment, then reared against the fence as is she were trying to climb or jump out.  I had already put my camera away, so I missed the moment.

These llamas were in the center enclosure, which is lower than the rest of the zoo. Can't you just see what this one is thinking? "More people with their stupid cameras. What are you guys looking at, anyway? Can't we ever have a minute of peace and privacy?"

We stopped by the deer and had an interesting conversation with our teachers. Deer are endangered here in the Yucatan, so they were quite entertained to hear that we have a special hunting season for them and that they often run out in front of vehicles on the roads.

The babies were so cute! This one was sitting partly in the shade of a rock (as you can probably tell), and our first reaction was, Where are your parents?!? They were nearby, but we didn't see them immediately because they blended in so well among the rocks and plants.

This one was looking at us at first, but then he hid his face behind these leaves.

This is a shot of part of the zoo. The tall tower was an observation tower looking out over the zoo.

We climbed the tower after we finished the walking tour. That is, we took the elevator to the top. The air conditioning was not working that day, so the thirty second ride seemed a lot longer! About two thirds of the zoo is visible in this picture. Mérida is in the background.



This is the other third of the zoo, just to the right of the last picture. The lake in the center is home to water fowl and fish, and the "safari area" is around that. There are a few more cages/enclosures and that is all there is to it! Very small zoo, but oh so worth the time! At least for this zoo lover.



This guy decided to run up the cement wall (can you see it below him? It was very steep, but he climbed it without a problem.) to greet us. He strutted his stuff for a while, then left again.

Giraffes, zebras, deer...I still think my favorite picture is of these ducklings. What is it about baby animals? Or baby people for that matter :P They just always bring smiles, don't they?

Ok, this is how close we were to the giraffe! The other one walked in front of us and started going to the bathroom, so we were thankful this one didn't follow suit! We would have been splattered!

I figured it would be worth getting thrown out of the zoo to go over and hug these zebras, but luckily I was stuck in the middle of the seat between Jasmin and Debora.

This baby some-type-of-cow-or-buffalo was lying next to his parents. He had the sweetest face!

Not the most flattering picture of an ostrich, but I was amused.

This post wouldn't be complete without an iguana picture. Isn't he huge? And yes, I will agree that this one is ugly.

Every time I go to a zoo, I wish I could take my nieces and little sisters! Animals are so fun. Even we big girls had fun. And we got back too late to have any class work time, so it was a win-win situation, right? In defense of the educational value of the trip, we did learn a lot of Spanish animal names. And the twenty minute safari tour was given in Spanish. And our teachers always talk to us in Spanish, although they both speak English very well. All in all, it was a fun AND educational trip! And if you want to see more pictures, I have about 105 more on my computer!