The Pereira Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo here in Pereira. Aside from its smaller size (compared to the Houston Zoo), which makes it very manageable with kids, it is easy to navigate and the animals are really close. You can definitely tell we're not in America, where they have 10 ft high fences, pits, wires, bullet proof glass etc to keep you from the animals. Here, it's more the other extreme: the Rhinos and the Hippos are so close and the fence so blatantly inadequate that I marvel that no mischievous kid has made his way into the cage!!

Now, when we arrived at the zoo, Fede started taking pictures of the animals. No, not our three munchkins, the real animals. And, if I am going to be honest, I usually scoff at people who whip out their little cameras and iPhones to take pictures at the zoo. I mean, the animals are usually hiding in some corner, 25 feet away, and the picture is muddled by a fence or glass of some sort. Not National Geographic quality to be sure. However, I have to say that Fede --in this case, and this case only-- totally proved me wrong. To his great credit, all of the pictures below were taken by him and most are really beautiful. So, with that, we present to you the animals of the Pereira Zoo....

For those of you who are unaware, Antonio has developed a near-obsession with birds. Specifically, vultures. I know. When I asked him why vultures, he said "Because they're bald and ugly." Very compelling reasons. Not to mention that they feed on dead animals and stink. In any case, it was quite amusing to watch Antonio marvel at the resident vultures loose in the zoo, as opposed to the majestic jaguars, tigers and so forth. We'd try to get his attention but he was mesmerized by the scavengers. To his delight, the zoo has the King Vulture (pictured above, bottom middle), which is actually a really beautiful, bird!!

Another great thing about this zoo is that because of the mild cool climate, it seems to me that the animals are much more active. I get the impression that in Houston the animals are so hot that it discourages them from moving around!

Love the Toucan!! Its beak doesn't even look real it is so colorful!!!

Here again you can see the King Vulture above, middle right picture. And the handsome fellow on the left, yeah, the blue one with the red hanging thing, has a bone-like ax on its head which it uses as a machete to cut its way through trees and brush.

Loved the feathers of these ducks --extraordinary tones of gold and brown.

That's it folks until our next post! Hope everyone is terrific.
-The Martinez