Yesterday was a very beautiful day.
I woke up very unwillingly at 9:45 in Tuxtla. I was SO tired but I rolled out of bed and proceeded to slowly get dressed. After packing most things up and taking a load down we walked down the street to a diner where we got some really good food. We went back to our hotel and finished packing everything away and got into the car.
One of the other reasons we wanted to come to Tuxtla was that, according to my parents' Spanish teacher, Memo, the zoo there is really incredible so we decided to check it out. We drove to the outskirts of Tuxtla and parked in the shade. After getting a little sunscreen on and armed with a camera, we were ready to go!! We walked down a cement path and under fake rock gateway type thing. It almost immediately became darker which was an interesting contrast to the bright sun outside the portal-like arches. There were tall trees and monkeys climbing around above. Then a loud -- practically lion-like--yell came out of the trees. We were startled for a moment and then remembered that that sound was a howler monkey. It is a really cool sound, I think.
We walked to the front desk, got tickets and a guide, and then set off to explore the zoo. We stopped first at the crocodile part; the crocodiles were very still and it was a little alarming to think that you are about 3 feet away and that they move very fast. We learned from our guide that the turtles in the same pond with the crocodiles are crocodile food. One turtle is eaten every eight days because crocodiles take a while to digest. When a female crocodile lays eggs, she puts them in a pile. The eggs on the bottom, because of the colder temperature there, become female. The eggs on the top, where the temperature is higher, become males.
As we went further into the park I really got to appreciate how different this zoo is from others because they only have animals in captivity that are native to that area. They also try to create life-like atmospheres for each animal according to what they are used to. Almost the whole park is shady and cool; howler monkeys can roam free and you hear the sounds of monkeys, birds and the wind through the tall trees more than the sound of human voices.
We saw some very cool trees; one was a pepper tree though its leaves smell like cloves to me. One tree had vines growing up it like a tangled orb-like thing. We saw a beautiful barn owl (which is one of my favorite animals) that half looked at me so that I could take a photo. We learned that owls can only move their eyes up and down so that is why they have evolved to turn their heads 180 degrees--it'd be a problem if you'd couldn't look from side to side!
We saw many cool animals; some of them looked kind of surreal. A tapir for example, which is related to the horse, resembles a large pig and has a short elephant-like trunk. This was probably the best zoo I have ever been to. We had popsicles that were homemade and had REAL fruit in them!!
After eating lunch we set off in our unshaded car, this time to San Cristobal. We drove for what seemed like a short time and were soon home. The cats were happy to see us and we were happy to be home. We vegged out for the rest of the night and ate popcorn and cookies. We watched Seven Years in Tibet and I thought it was a sad but really good movie. We went to sleep VERY late but content.
This was Saturday by the way. I will post photos of the zoo later.
Good Night!
I woke up very unwillingly at 9:45 in Tuxtla. I was SO tired but I rolled out of bed and proceeded to slowly get dressed. After packing most things up and taking a load down we walked down the street to a diner where we got some really good food. We went back to our hotel and finished packing everything away and got into the car.
One of the other reasons we wanted to come to Tuxtla was that, according to my parents' Spanish teacher, Memo, the zoo there is really incredible so we decided to check it out. We drove to the outskirts of Tuxtla and parked in the shade. After getting a little sunscreen on and armed with a camera, we were ready to go!! We walked down a cement path and under fake rock gateway type thing. It almost immediately became darker which was an interesting contrast to the bright sun outside the portal-like arches. There were tall trees and monkeys climbing around above. Then a loud -- practically lion-like--yell came out of the trees. We were startled for a moment and then remembered that that sound was a howler monkey. It is a really cool sound, I think.
We walked to the front desk, got tickets and a guide, and then set off to explore the zoo. We stopped first at the crocodile part; the crocodiles were very still and it was a little alarming to think that you are about 3 feet away and that they move very fast. We learned from our guide that the turtles in the same pond with the crocodiles are crocodile food. One turtle is eaten every eight days because crocodiles take a while to digest. When a female crocodile lays eggs, she puts them in a pile. The eggs on the bottom, because of the colder temperature there, become female. The eggs on the top, where the temperature is higher, become males.
As we went further into the park I really got to appreciate how different this zoo is from others because they only have animals in captivity that are native to that area. They also try to create life-like atmospheres for each animal according to what they are used to. Almost the whole park is shady and cool; howler monkeys can roam free and you hear the sounds of monkeys, birds and the wind through the tall trees more than the sound of human voices.
We saw some very cool trees; one was a pepper tree though its leaves smell like cloves to me. One tree had vines growing up it like a tangled orb-like thing. We saw a beautiful barn owl (which is one of my favorite animals) that half looked at me so that I could take a photo. We learned that owls can only move their eyes up and down so that is why they have evolved to turn their heads 180 degrees--it'd be a problem if you'd couldn't look from side to side!
We saw many cool animals; some of them looked kind of surreal. A tapir for example, which is related to the horse, resembles a large pig and has a short elephant-like trunk. This was probably the best zoo I have ever been to. We had popsicles that were homemade and had REAL fruit in them!!
After eating lunch we set off in our unshaded car, this time to San Cristobal. We drove for what seemed like a short time and were soon home. The cats were happy to see us and we were happy to be home. We vegged out for the rest of the night and ate popcorn and cookies. We watched Seven Years in Tibet and I thought it was a sad but really good movie. We went to sleep VERY late but content.
This was Saturday by the way. I will post photos of the zoo later.
Good Night!
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