Santa Cruz and the escaping Sloth
Having children in your life changes many things, as all parents can confirm. I am a happy parent, so I am not one to complain.
What it certainly does change, however, is your approach to travel. The when, where, and what are suddenly variables that can't be customized without taking the little ones into account. When they are in school, they will dictate when you can and when you can't travel. The place you travel to is deducted by what the children can and can't endure, so traveling nearby is inherently more preferable than spending the entire day on plane, train, and automobile. And finally, the agenda itself is set by the kids, since a visit to a church or a museum will be met by the xyz: exhaustion, yawning, and sleep inducing zzzzzz's. No matter how you look at it, parents must choose wisely.
With that in mind, we decide to travel to the Santa Cruz Zoo on our second day here in Bolivia's biggest city. Although Santa Cruz's zoo per se can't match the zoo or the facilities of many of its counterparts in much smaller towns throughout the world, it is unique in that it will have animals its counterparts can't match either, namely those native to the South American continent.
What, for example, are the chances that a European zoo will be able to build an exhibit for a jaguar, a cayman, or parrots? Here in Bolivia, that's as easy as the zoo in London showing off European, Asian, or African animals, which is why South American animals are obviously Santa Cruz's forte. In fact, I am fairly certain I did not see a single species from outside of the Latin American continent.
The Santa Cruz Zoo has three or four jaguars on display - rare animals that are as rare as they are endangered. There is no lion or tiger or leopard, but you'll be pressed to find a jaguar in any zoo outside of the continent. There are the anacondas, the caymen, the llamas, parrots, and monkeys. Again, why spend money on animals you can't maintain? Santa Cruz clearly sticks to what it knows.
The highlight is provided by a sloth. From other zoos you will hear about the occasional breakout by snakes (who usually end up dead in the city's sewer system) or the odd mammal who will be caught more quickly than the tranq gun dart that hits it. Imagine our surprise, then, when we saw that a sloth had escaped.
The name of the animal says it all. This is an animal that moves so slowly you actually get the feeling this monkey gets a tranq gun every day, whether he's in his cage or not. Its lazy and deliberate movements almost make snails and turtles appear hyperactive. We come across the sloth near the playground - of course you need to throw in a playground break for the kids. Here, a few teens are messing with the sloth, jabbing at it with a stick. The sloth's reactions are what you'd expect: by the time the point of the stick is poking the animal's belly, its hand has only shot up after realizing long after the fact that there is an object coming at it.
Amazing, how these animals are able to survive throughout history, let alone escape from there cages.
Santa Cruz on the day before Easter Sunday is its hot and steamy self with thick clouds adorning the sky. There will be no rain but also, luckily, no sunburns.
Later at the hotel, Axl - again see the kid's agenda - frolics for hours in the kid's pool. During a break in the action, he actually drops his drawers and would have no doubt peed in the pool had it not been for my quick intervention. This is not something parents want to see.
A lazy and uneventful day, for sure, although tomorrow we intend to visit the famous Butterfly Garden outside of the city - a highlight for any tourist, regardless of where you are from.
What it certainly does change, however, is your approach to travel. The when, where, and what are suddenly variables that can't be customized without taking the little ones into account. When they are in school, they will dictate when you can and when you can't travel. The place you travel to is deducted by what the children can and can't endure, so traveling nearby is inherently more preferable than spending the entire day on plane, train, and automobile. And finally, the agenda itself is set by the kids, since a visit to a church or a museum will be met by the xyz: exhaustion, yawning, and sleep inducing zzzzzz's. No matter how you look at it, parents must choose wisely.
With that in mind, we decide to travel to the Santa Cruz Zoo on our second day here in Bolivia's biggest city. Although Santa Cruz's zoo per se can't match the zoo or the facilities of many of its counterparts in much smaller towns throughout the world, it is unique in that it will have animals its counterparts can't match either, namely those native to the South American continent.
What, for example, are the chances that a European zoo will be able to build an exhibit for a jaguar, a cayman, or parrots? Here in Bolivia, that's as easy as the zoo in London showing off European, Asian, or African animals, which is why South American animals are obviously Santa Cruz's forte. In fact, I am fairly certain I did not see a single species from outside of the Latin American continent.
The Santa Cruz Zoo has three or four jaguars on display - rare animals that are as rare as they are endangered. There is no lion or tiger or leopard, but you'll be pressed to find a jaguar in any zoo outside of the continent. There are the anacondas, the caymen, the llamas, parrots, and monkeys. Again, why spend money on animals you can't maintain? Santa Cruz clearly sticks to what it knows.
The highlight is provided by a sloth. From other zoos you will hear about the occasional breakout by snakes (who usually end up dead in the city's sewer system) or the odd mammal who will be caught more quickly than the tranq gun dart that hits it. Imagine our surprise, then, when we saw that a sloth had escaped.
The name of the animal says it all. This is an animal that moves so slowly you actually get the feeling this monkey gets a tranq gun every day, whether he's in his cage or not. Its lazy and deliberate movements almost make snails and turtles appear hyperactive. We come across the sloth near the playground - of course you need to throw in a playground break for the kids. Here, a few teens are messing with the sloth, jabbing at it with a stick. The sloth's reactions are what you'd expect: by the time the point of the stick is poking the animal's belly, its hand has only shot up after realizing long after the fact that there is an object coming at it.
Amazing, how these animals are able to survive throughout history, let alone escape from there cages.
Santa Cruz on the day before Easter Sunday is its hot and steamy self with thick clouds adorning the sky. There will be no rain but also, luckily, no sunburns.
Later at the hotel, Axl - again see the kid's agenda - frolics for hours in the kid's pool. During a break in the action, he actually drops his drawers and would have no doubt peed in the pool had it not been for my quick intervention. This is not something parents want to see.
A lazy and uneventful day, for sure, although tomorrow we intend to visit the famous Butterfly Garden outside of the city - a highlight for any tourist, regardless of where you are from.
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