Saturday morning we decided to get up and head down to the Mexico City Zoo. It opens at nine and we got there around 9:30. We parked in the Anthropology Museum parking lot, which is right across the street. A safe and easy place to park and cost less than $5, so it was pretty reasonable.
The walk to get to the zoo was a bit far, but a pretty and nice walk through the Bosque de Chapultepec. Here the vendors were setting up there stalls. People were also starting to rent the paddle boats to roam out on the lake.
We got to the entrance of the zoo and we were so early that they weren't even selling maps yet. So we set off on our own and followed the signs to the pandas. The Mexico City Zoo is the second zoo that has successfully bred pandas, besides China. Another problem with getting to the zoo so early was that not all the animals were out in their habitats yet. Only one panda was out. What was interesting was that it seemed as though they grow a portion of the bamboo at the zoo. A worker was cutting some down, I can only assume to feed to the pandas.
We walked through two sections of the zoo and then decided it was time to take a brake, have something to eat and then finish up the zoo. By this time, the information desk was open so Dave went and grabbed a map for 5 pesos (less than $0.50 US). We ordered a Dominoes Pizza, but seeing as it was going to take ten minutes, and we were starving, we also ordered fries from McDonald's. We scoped out the rest of the zoo while eating and Claire couldn't wait to see the elephants, since we do not have them at the Detroit Zoo.
After lunch, we headed off to find the bathrooms and the elephants. We came across the bathrooms and had to pay 4 pesos to go in. The bathrooms were very clean and well-maintained. I think many people think of Mexico as a dirty country, but all the bathrooms that I have gone into here have been very clean and they have hand sanitizer everywhere, in fact, we had to put some on before we could even enter the zoo.
So with lunch and potty breaks taken care of, our little navigator told us to head to the elephants. Dave and I thought we were lost for awhile because we couldn't find them, but then realized that their exhibit was there, just empty. We tried to ignore Claire in hopes that she would forget about the elephants with everything else to see, but we finally had to break it to her that there were none at the zoo.
The last part of the zoo we went through was the bird area. They have a large human birdcage that you can walk into where the birds fly around free. As it was getting late in the day and we were all getting tired, we opted out of that part and looked for the exit, but not before we stopped and got a McDonald's ice cream cone for Claire!
Before going to the zoo, I looked up a few websites that had information on it and found some reviews too. Half of the reviews were really good, but the other half said that the zoo smelled, the habitats were sad and pathetic, and the animals were treated poorly. I must say, that I didn't agree with these reviews. Of course, not all of the exhibits were as large as they should be, but they all were very clean (as was the rest of the zoo) and most animals were eating fresh fruits, veggies, and we saw one zookeeper feeding some of the smaller monkeys a slice of bread. There were two areas were smelly; the ducks and I can't remember the other animal, but both ARE stinky animals and I didn't expect it not to smell.
We left the zoo and took the long walk through the vendors, which were in full swing at this point. The bad reviews also complained about these vendors, but they didn't harass us as we walked past, like the reviews said. It was just amazing to see SO many vendors and they were mostly selling the same things - balloons, puffed snacks, toys, candy, Mexican wrestling masks, drinks, and hats. We made it back to the car and shed a few layers of clothes seeing as when we got to the zoo, it was probably in the low 60's, but when we left, it was closer to 80. Overall, a good trip for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment