Actually we've already been to the zoo, but who would pass up the opportunity for a nod to Raffi. At which point I've lost anyone who doesn't have kids. Onwards.
Briefly, before the zoo. Early impressions of Santiago: After our marathon all weeked journey, we ventured no further than the local grocery store and the park across the road (twice). Santiago seems to be a pleasant city, perhaps eopitomised by our nearby Parque Ines de Suarez. It felt a little like a London park on a warm summer's evening - small groups of people sitting around drinking a couple of beers, eating something, kicking a ball around. There was also a little cafe, some table tennis tables, and palm trees (the parallels with London are becoming less evident).
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Parque Ines de Suarez
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| Life transported with us |
Today we went to the Zoologico Nacional. Zoos are of course problematic. Wild animals who are used to roaming over great distances are clearly not meant to be in an enclosure. However, dolphins are not meant to live in oceans full of plastic, elephants shouldn't have housing developments impeding their migration routes, and tigers shouldn't be shot for sport (or probably any other reason). In this context, well managed, modern zoos can serve an important function. Apart from taking in rescued wildlife and protecting, and sometimes breeding, endangered species, these are really the only places most of us humans will see many of these animals. And hopefully the more we know, the better equipped we are to make good choices.
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All you need to know about our day, thank you Toby
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We tested the kids at the first enclosure, the elephants, just to make sure they get it. They get it, the African elephants are meant to be roaming around Africa. School's done for the day, now let's take some pictures of cute and furry creatures.
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Visiting the cousins
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Clockwise from top left: ring-tailed lemur, red panda, hippo, flamingo, perhaps a black-faced ibis, serval, African elephant.
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Turtles, just like at Mud Lake in Ottawa
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"I think this is the Lion King pose"
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This was probably the saddest enclosure. It seemed small for a giraffe and the animals were alone.
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Lions, resting
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| Sea lion and son |
A cool feature of this zoo in Santiago is that it is built onto the hillside of San Cristobal, which gives it a neat layout, a nice breeze and some views of the city.
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Shady spots for snacks and views of Santiago (although the kids are looking at the llamas below the fence)
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| We woz 'ere |
A couple of final notes. (1) We paid around CDN$5 for an Uber to the zoo which took less than 10 minutes, instead of 35 minutes on the subway. We will ride the subway for the experience, but Uber is too easy. Again, I recognise the problems, but it just works. (2) Everyone here, indoors and out, is wearing masks. It's amazing. And they have a vaccination rate around 90% (Canada 80%, US 64%). And it's the middle of summer.
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