Mother's Day Weekend

For this year's Mother's Day weekend, we decided to go to Zoobic Safari because we were feeling adventurous. "We" consisted of my side of the family plus Daddy Bryan.

There are 4 parts to the Zoobic Safari adventure. The first one is the orientation. Each family and friend groups are going to be part of tour groups. Our group consisted of a group of old people, a group of college kids and another family with far more members than us.

This is our tour guide, D'Art.

The first part of the tour is what I call the generic tour. Generic because all kinds of animals were part of that tour. There were mammals, birds and reptiles (okay, maybe not all because there weren't any amphibians and fish there). We went to see the birds (Bird Walk) and Brianna was so fond of the part when we were allowed to feed the lovebirds (P10 per handful of bird feeds). She didn't want to leave when our tour group needed to go. The birds were interesting and some of them are not caged so they are flying over us which is different from the usual caged birds we see in Manila zoos.

Next, we went to Dear Deer where some other mammals were located. That was the place where I realized that I am afraid of animals. You wanna know how much? When Brianna and I entered the petting zoo - and I wanna emphasize that it's a PETTING ZOO with BABY goats (How do you call them again?) - I freaked out when they all came towards us. It's so embarrassing because my daughter keeps on pulling me towards the animals while I pull away.

This is the part where that camel have just approached my back and nudged me with its nose. I think I muffled a little scream when it did in front of our tour group which makes it all the more embarrassing but it's all good.

This is where I realized that I am afraid of goats.

The last part is the Serpentarium. I am not posting any photos of snakes or lizards because even just the thought of them gives me the creeps.

Second leg of the Zoobic Safari adventure is the one with the tigers. The first part is entering the Zoobic Cave and the Forbidden Cave. The Zoobic Cave is just a cave where the stuffed animals are displayed. Tigers, lions, beavers and other kinds of animals can be seen there. The second part is the Tiger Safari Ride. This is the part that's familiar with everyone: Your group rides a jeepney that goes into the part of the park where the tigers roam freely.

While waiting for our turn in the Tiger Safari Ride

Inside the jeepney. I don't know why we weren't looking.

Feeding the tiger. I forgot his name but what I cannot forget is how huge he is and how expensive the chicken is (P200/whole chicken to feed to the tiger).

Last part of the second leg is the Close Encounter. This is where you walk, literally, 3 feet away from tigers and lions. They're enclosed in cages, don't worry. What you have to worry about, though, is that when they peed on you, you're gonna have to deal with the stench for 3 days. You'd know when they're about to pee, anyway: When their tails rise up. I don't have pictures because the place was too dark and the battery of the digicam has died on me by that time.

The third and last leg of the Zoobic Safari tour is the Savannah-Aeta's Trail-Croco Loco tour. The Savannah is a drive by tour where wild boars and ostriches run freely.

The Aeta's Trail is a part of the tour where the Aetas perform for the 'tourists'. There are three parts to their performance. The first one is the Dance of the Birds (Sayaw ng mga Ibon). The second one is the Dance of the Monkey (Sayaw ng mga Unggoy) and the last one is the Warrior's Dance (Sayaw ng Mandirigma). I don't have photos of the dances because by this part of the tour, the only cameras running were the iPod and the Blackberry's and they couldn't take a decent enough photo (because of the shutter speed).

We then went up the mountain where there were souvenirs that the Aetas made and there was a place where you can try archery, Aeta style for P10/arrow shot. My brother tried it but he couldn't hit the bull's eye after 3 tries so he just let it go.

And the last part of the whole Zoobic Safari experience is the Croco Loco. That is where you feed the crocodiles while they lay on their pool. There were a lot of crocodiles and they all looked hungry. You can feed them meat that costs P50 a piece.

This is how calm they were when we first got to the place.

This is the riot that happened when food started dangling from the bridge.

At the end of the tour, Certificates of Survival were handed out to the groups. All in all, it was a great experience. For a 500-peso entrance fee (P550 if you are going to ride the tram), it was worth the fun and enjoyment we all experienced. What's more important is Brianna had the time of her life. She was screaming the entire time and she was knocked out come dinner time. It's a really great place to bring your family to for an adventurous good time and for me, that was the best way to celebrate my second mother's day.