Some police guy told my mom that El Parque de Las Leyendas was a good place to visit, so she decided to take us there on Thursday. My dad was still in the rain forest, and she knew it would be a good place to pass the time. We looked it up on the Internet, got the address, and headed out the door on another adventure. And what an adventure it was!
First we went to the Wong, a grocery store 10 minutes from our apartment (maybe a little less). Our taxi driver was really nice and spoke some English. Then Mom did some bank stuff, and the kids picked up Oreos to take to the zoo with us. (Oh, the comforts of home we find in food...) We got another taxi driver because the other one had driven off. Later we were wishing that we had asked him to wait for us. Our new taxista DID NOT KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING. He pretended to know, but after 40 minutes, I was carsick and dying from a combination of diesel fume inhalation and heat stroke. After going in circles for a while, he finally found it and let us get out of the car. I felt faint. I do not really understand why they pretend to know where to go when they really don't. They are just losing money by wandering around Lima. About taxis and taxistas (taxi drivers): they will honk at you or flash their lights at you or yell at you to get your attention. Then you lean down and tell them where you want to go. The driver will tell you a price (no meters in the cars). Then my dad says you are supposed to haggle the price. (Apparently they will know you are a foreigner when you don't haggle.)My father is convinced we get the "gringo price" every time; but sheesh, five bucks for a 20 minute car ride is pretty good!
So we got to the zoo, and my little sister Rebekah goes, "I don't feel good!" And we are all like AAGHHHHH. Mom got her to feel a little better, so we went and got tickets ($13.50 for all of us!). It was really hot, and all the sidewalks make it feel like an adobe oven in there. Emily found a map, and we figured out a plan (which I personally think was "wander around the endless park of animals for two hours"). We then proceeded to see all the animals. I really liked it; there is such diversity! At first there were only llama-type animals and birds, and I was a little discouraged. Llamas are cool, but I am a little wary of them. (one of them almost came to eat us, I promise you.)There was like a big green field with little huts, under which the llamas/alpacas were standing. Then we saw some black jaguars that were really cool! A lot of the animals were kinda pooped out because it was so hot, but I didn't blame them.
We then went through the the jungle section. Next was a lot of exhibits that held sloth-like mammals, which we practically ran through because Mom gets creeped out by sloths. hahahaha :) My little brother Elijah is all about the tigers and bears and stuff, so we headed that direction next. We ran into the tapir exhibit. They were stalking me, so I quickly moved everyone along. (You can ask my family; the creepy and weird tapirs were following me!) The funny thing about the zoo is that they have some animal combinations that were strange. Like there was an exhibit with zebras and goats. The goats were weird because they were under the trees that were positioned along the fence. I then dubbed them the sentry goats. We went through and saw some hippos, giraffes, and ostriches. Then came the bears and tigers and lions. The bears we liked because they were from North America, and we just felt so proud (sad but true :). The lions were so sad-looking! They were just cooped up in small wire cages with nothing to do. You animal lovers would be outraged. The tiger was beautiful but was also in a cage. It was cute; Elijah just could look at the big cats all day. He's such an outdoor fellow :)
Our driver on the way home was really nice and took us through a nice part of town. It took about 20 minutes! I was thinking, "So it's really a lot closer to the apartment than we thought!" The zoo...what a wonderful place!
Mags:)
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