After our adventure in Palenque Nitivia and I caught a bus to Tuxtla (Tooxla) Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico to visit the zoo. We had heard about the zoo while staying in Antigua from a guy named Bill who ran a book store and we decided, hey we don't have anything else to do so lets go to Tuxtla and visit the zoo.
Tuxtla itself is the capital of Chiapas and isn't a tourist destination by any stretch of the imagination. We intended to splurge on a hotel with a pool so we could spend a day relaxing by the water only to find the owners of the Tuxtla Best Western (the highest rated hotel in Tuxtla) used every camera trick in the world to turn their wading pool into an olympic tree lined resort destination...
Misadventures with the hotel aside the zoo in Tuxtla is well worth a detour from whatever route you have planned for a visit. Composed of only indigenous Chiapas animals the zoo is EXTENSIVE. We actually got to the point where we didn't want to see any more animals, just leave. While wandering around the paths you actually felt like you were walking through the jungle and peeking into small clearings that just happened to have animals lounging around. Possibly the best part is you see some animals lounging in an enclosure then you start walking and see more of them running around on the path!
Anyway on with the pictures!
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| I have never had so much trouble trying to explain how to look through a hole and click a button to someone before... |
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| White tail deer. I find it pretty amazing that the most common type of deer in north Idaho is also the most common type of deer in Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Quetzal. The national bird of Guatemala. Supposedly if you put one in a cage it will die, which is why it is a symbol of freedom. Clearly this superstition isn't true but when has that stopped someone from believing in superstition? |
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| More of the Quetzal. This is what Nitivia is going to get a tattoo of to represent her time in Guatemala. |
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| Dragonfly! |
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| I don't remember what this little bastard is called but he stank! |
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| One thing I love about Mexico is that you need to have self control. I totally could have just stuck my hand in there if I wanted to. |
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| There were at least a zillion turtles in this zoo. |
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| This bird had no fear. I almost stepped on it like 5 times while walking around the aviary. |
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| The most active animal I have ever observed in a zoo before (Vested Anteater). |
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| Macaw's. They are loud and colorful. I don't know why anyone would want to keep a bird as a pet but these are almost extinct because people steal their eggs to sell as exotic pets. |
GIFS!
The Vested Anteater was just running around eating stuff and being adorable.
We saw some people eating fresh coconut so we asked for one and we got one! It was delicious to suck fresh, luke warm, syrupy, white goo from something...
King Vulture! It was hard to get a good photo of this guy but he was huge! I wouldn't want to mess with one.
