Last week Andy and I went to the Zoo. Located in the heart of downtown, it was a very relaxing and shady place to spend the afternoon. For 8,000 VND each (or $.50) we could wander around the zoo all afternoon taking pictures and.........TOUCHING THE ANIMALS! The rules of what you can do at the zoo are very lax and it was a whole new experience being so close and open to the animals.
(The above picture is the trashcans placed all over....so cute! If only they could place these around the city????)
At the giraffe section of the zoo there was a raised platform so that people could walk up and be eye to eye with giraffes! At first Andy an I went up and they were far away. But after only a few moments of standing there this guy came up and was so close I could pet it. Getting ready for a photo opp quick I turned to smile at the camera. Andy was able to get a cute picture RIGHT before the giraffe then swung its neck and head butted my arm. Ow. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who knew giraffes were so angry. Andy yelled at me to come back over towards him quick while I was still in shock from being hit from this cute animal. Andy and I watched from afar while other people came up and tried to pet it. Finally one older man came up and when the giraffe started to headbutt- he just grabbed its horn things and started roughly rubbing them. This giraffe whisperer told us "THEY just like their horns rubbed." Well maybe thats what he wanted but did he have to HEADBUTT ME!???? (and ps how did this guy know that? )
Here is Andy a safe distance from the BEAST! He told me about this video on youtube that showed Giraffes fighting with their large powerful necks- check it out:
No they did not let you touch the snakes :)
HOWEVER- they did let you feed the Elephants from a safe distance. Next time I will be sure to bring some kind of food to give them :)
So at this zoo, the lions and tigers were behind iron gates so it was not the best photo opportunity.
BUT the white tiger was in a glass or plastic cage. It was just going to lay down when I approached the cage to get a picture. The instant I came in sight of the glass it ran towards me and jumped up to show me its large teeth! IT was the craziest experience, being at the zoo people always try to get a rise out of the animals to get them to do more than just lay around. But this time all I did was walk up towards it! More people ran over to take a picture and to get it to growl at them...but the entire time it was clear that the tiger just wanted to eat me.
Maybe it doesn't like red heads.
LOVE-
