With just a little time left until Bryan's next deployment, we knocked out another day trip by visiting the Nagasaki Bio Park! Located a quick 30-minute drive from our house, Nagasaki Bio Park is best described as a petting zoo on steroids! You can feed many of the animals, but since we weren't aware, we didn't come prepared with coins to purchase the animal treats. It all worked out because the animals are so used to people that they didn't seem to mind a few penniless Americans petting them without snacks in hand!
Many of you know, I became obsessed with the San Diego Zoo during our year in California. I had an annual membership and visited at least 15 times, so it's safe to say I learned a ton about the zoo's animals and found a new appreciation for these creatures! Hearing about this Bio Park nearby, I had high hopes that this would allow me to get my animal fix that I've been missing since the move!
Right as we walked up to the entrance to buy our tickets, there were two Macaws and a Llama out front, happy as could be, as a large group of Japanese schoolchildren hollered at them. Of course, I stood back and took pictures while Bryan went ahead and purchased our tickets! Eventually, he drug me towards the entrance so we could go and see what else was in store!
The first exhibit we reached contained more llamas. These guys were happily enjoying their breakfast, so after a few quick pics, we moved ahead to the first interactive exhibit, where we could enter and be with the animals!
I was astounded. We got to pet Patagonian Cavys, known to us as Patagonian Maras! These guys were happy as could be, and were clearly my type of animal- basking in the sun! Bryan even made a friend who followed him around until he squatted down to pet him. (For my San Diego Zoo friends, you will remember these guys; they lived with the Giant Anteaters at the foot of the sky tram!)
Next up was a flower dome, where we were pleasantly surprised to find bats! These three guys were hanging by the back entrance, perfectly content cleaning themselves. As you can tell from the pictures below, there wasn't any kind of barrier between us and these guys, so we were able to get pretty close to observe them. I didn't realize that bats' "hands" are just a single claw, yet their feet have five toes to help them hold onto the tree limbs. Their wings looked leathery, but we followed the sign and didn't touch these guys. They bite!
The Cape Hyraxs, known to us as the Rock Hyrax, had a giant exhibit, where I learned how fast these suckers are! At the San Diego Zoo, the Rock Hyrax lived with the Klipspringers (the deer-looking animal that looks like it's standing in pointe shoes), and I just thought these guys spent their entire lives lying around sleeping. I had never seen them move at the San Diego Zoo, but here at the Bio Park, they were running all over the place, chasing each other and climbing up and down the crazy cliffs. I now understand where they get their name!
As we walked down a tree-covered area, we almost missed the lemur feeding area! A little girl in front of us luckily purchased a lemur treat, and as soon as the lemurs heard the machine, they all rushed down to meet her! Again, there were no walls separating us from the animals, so these guys walked right up to us, hoping for a treat. I will say, they were a bit aggressiv; they tried to snatch the snack container out of the girl's hand, but luckily she had a pretty good grip on it! Bryan was even able to shake hands with one of the lemurs! He says this was a highlight of the day!
The flamingo feeding area was pretty cool as well. Upon entering the exhibit, these guys were more than happy to come up on the sidewalk to greet us!
Next up: the tapirs! The Bio Park is home to two Malaysian Tapirs and two Brazilian Tapirs, which are much smaller than their Malaysian cousins. I quickly reminded Bryan of our San Diego Zoo tapir friends- the Malaysian Tapir (who lives near the tigers) and the Bairds Tapirs (who live near the elephants and jaguar.) For those who need a refresher, the Malaysian tapir is the one whose babies look like little black watermelons when they are born!
Then we hit the bug exhibit. The Japanese beetles were huge, and I was reminded of my love for bug spray. At every glass enclosure, Bryan guessed at how loud the crunch would be if he stepped on each insect. That's all I have to say about that.
It's not a real petting zoo without goats, and these guys were beyond happy to stick their necks, and tongues, out to meet new friends!
More San Diego Zoo friends: The capuchin monkeys! These guys are known as one of the smartest monkeys in the world. You may recognize them from Night at the Museum movies and the George of the Jungle movie!
The best part of the day? Petting several capybaras! (San Diego Zoo peeps: these guys lived with the tapirs by the elephants!) Known as the largest rodent in the world, these guys are quite fascinating, and their fur feels like straw! They seemed lazier than the Maras we saw earlier, but when offered a fresh piece of greenery, they were up and ready to follow you around their exhibit! I could have happily sat and rubbed these guys for the rest of the day. They purred like cats when I scratched them between the eyes and down their snouts, similar to the way Reynolds like to be rubbed. These guys just want love and I was ready to give it to them!
Next up was the Southern Coati, found in Central America and the northern parts of South America. We recognized these guys from the Osaka Aquarium! It's funny that neither Bryan nor I had ever heard of a Southern Coati before moving to Japan, and now we have seen them at two different places!
Next up was the Fennec Fox, and he was just as active as the ones at the San Diego Zoo. I'm telling you, they may be cute in Disney's Zootopia movie, but these guys are always napping!
The Giant Tortoises were behind glass, and the otters were enclosed in their exhibit. Luckily there was a shoot that allowed you to feed the otters, and this made it so the otters actually paid you attention! Bryan tried to communicate with them by whistling since they make these high-pitched squeaking sounds, and I ended up pulling Bryan away from his new friends as they squeaked back and forth to each other! Who knows what they were saying!?! They were beyond cute and even posed for some pictures!
Bryan and I overheard some locals talking about the striped skunk, so we were able to pick out the word and learned its pronounced "skunk-ew" in Japanese! (Look at us! Now if we run into an escaped skunk, we are prepared.)
Ok, petting the capybara may have been the best part of the day, but the raccoons made me laugh out loud! These guys live in a glassed enclosure, but the top and bottom panes of glass have a small separation between them, so people can drop treats down into their outstretched hands. Clearly, these guys have learned the routine, because as soon as people walk up to their enclosure, all 50 of these guys rush to the glass and begin sticking their little hands up between the glass panels with the hopes of grabbing a treat!
I will admit, these guys looked much friendlier than the raccoon Bryan and I had spotted climbing our patio wall in California! I now understand the fascination the Japanese have with raccoons! (San Diego Zoo does have a raccoon on exhibit near the polar bears, and Bill, my human zoo friend, taught me that it's because Asians visiting the zoo are always really interested in them.) I totally understand now!
Next up: Timon!!! We spotted several meerkats running in and out of another goat exhibit, and we seriously thought they had escaped from their enclosure. Nope, these guys were just free to roam around the zoo! While Bryan was able to catch the attention of one little guy, a goat-friend wanted a picture with B too! Couldn't leave him out!
We made a quick stop by Africa when we visited the two giraffes, zebra, and ostrich areas! I will say, the ostrich had an entire personality and was ready to bite my fingers off for a chance at a treat! I didn't know how strong an ostrich's beak was, but hearing it snap shut over and over again gave me a clue!
Bryan said the zebra area was the only time he felt disheartened for an animal at the Bio Park. This guy was pacing around his enclosure, which was rather small and really muddy from the last few days of heavy rain. Overall, it seems like these animals are loved and cared for by the park.
The scariest part of the park was entering the Common Squirrel Monkey exhibit. At first, you think "oh my goodness! They are so tiny and cute!" and then one jumps on you. And you nearly poop your pants. Bryan says he tried to warn me before I was used as a bounce pad, but I think he enjoyed my shocked reaction. After seeing the monkeys jump on me and the other little Japanese kids, Bryan was ready to leave before it happened to him.
The last petting area was filled with at least 15 Grey Kangaroos! This is actually the second time Bryan and I have gone inside an exhibit with Kangaroos (the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has an interaction exhibit), but it was the first time we actually got to pet a kangaroo! Bryan was still startled by the monkeys, so he was more hesitant. I think he was concerned he may get punched in the face like Phil did in Modern Family.
Don't know what I'm talking about?
Now you do!
Anyway, he eventually got brave enough when one of the little guys hopped right up to him!
We saw Black-tailed prairie dogs, some more lemurs, a kookaburra, and finally three river hippos! I will say, Bryan was hoping for pygmy hippos since they were his favorite animal at the San Diego Zoo, but we got the "normal" hippos instead. These guys were happy to float around, and we were able to get a better look at their size by the one guy napping on land!
On our ride home from the Nagasaki Bio Park, we stopped by a Shinto Shrine that had a giant Torri gate at the entrance! Of course, I wanted to go check it out, but when we drove up, it seemed like a legit church building and we caught a lot of strange looks...so we turned around. Whatever, we got the pictures!
Bryan would tell me to make sure I point out the fall leaves in the background. I was more focused on how tiny our car looks!!!! This thing was HUGE and the surroundings were quite stunning!
Day trips with B are the best. And they are made better when they are filled with animals and beautiful scenery!
Until next time,
Katie
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