A sweet, short visit to Zoocobia
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| Welcome to Zoocobia! |
Last June 1, I tagged along with my sister and her in-laws to go to Fontana, Pampanga, for a bit of swimming. We've been there before so I didn't think to take photos. Before we went home the following day, we went out for a bit of fun to Zoocobia, a new zoo hidden somewhere in the mountains of Pampanga. My sister drove, so I don't know how to commute going there, but it's definitely something that you should drive to, not really commute to.
Zoocobia is still new, and thus they only have few animals and the place is not really that developed. But the entrance fee is already a little steep, especially since there are only a few animals that are on display. Other fun activities, like the zooc ride, had an extra cost. Since we were already tired from walking, we decided to pay for the ride and go zipping down the short drive.
It was a bit sad to see the animals since they didn't look all that healthy to me, but the staff seemed so enthusiastic and so nice. And the animals do seem taken well cared of; maybe they're still being rehabilitated? The staff were also nice to the animals, and courteous to the guests.
David, my brother-in-law's half-American nephew, spouted a lot of facts as we went along. The tour guide kidded that it's a good thing he knows a lot about the animals since she's already getting a figurative nosebleed from speaking in English!
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| David bravely stepped up and fed the ostrich with a gloved hand. |
You can feed the animals, under the guidance of the staff. For the ostrich, we had to use a glove but we didn't use gloves when we fed the birds. Having birds eat off the palm of your hand was a marvelous experience! I felt like Belle when she fed birds and sheep in
Beauty and the Beast, the Disney version (my favorite movie!)
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| The birds crowded around my hand. |
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| Our niece, Aj, with ate Mako, but she got scared so she didn't feed the birds. |
There was also a bear cat, who we had to keep calling just to come out. They didn't have a harness, but we were safe because he didn't even approach us. He just got out and looked at us and then crept back into his home with the other bear cats.
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| Hello, Mr. Bear Cat! |
After that, we finally reached the point where we can ride the zooc. We were supposed to wear helmets, especially cutiepie, but she just took it off. They were actually supposed to ride a blue zooc, but when she saw the pink ride, she stood up and left her mom and sat on the pink one. ;) She already knows the color she likes, and she's not yet even two years old!
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| Mommy Apple and Aj's first time on the zooc. |
After the exciting zooc ride and usual assortment of snakes, birds, and monkeys, we arrived at the more exotic animals. It was fun seeing the animals, but sad because they were caged and they looked sad being alone and in a cage. I hope Zoocobia will develop into a place where the animals don't have to be caged, and they can roam freely around the grass and trees.
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| A real, live llama right here in the country! |
My favorite part was seeing the Wagyu. Yes, that's a real live wagyu. After seeing him, I promised to myself to never eat a wagyu burger. He was magnificent! He stood tall and proud and imposing.
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| I can't believe I saw a live wagyu! |
After the short tour, we were supposed to go to another area to see plants or butterflies, I think, but we opted to just go home because we had to get going back to Manila. Zoocobia was a little pricey for the sparse exhibit, but we still enjoyed it anyway, if only because I saw animals I haven't seen before.
Ciao,
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