Except that today was THE BEST!
But let me tell the events of the day in order. I was up like clockwork at 7am, so I read and drank my coffee until it was breakfast time. We ate with the rest of the family, then packed up our things and called a cab, which drove us 45min to Zoologica de Puerto Vallarta - the zoo!
This is not like an American zoo. Part of your admission fee is a little lunch sack full of animal snacks - carrots, bread, dried corn, peanuts and pellets. And if you're a sucker like me (and those with me), you'll pay a pretty substantial additional fee just so you can... Oh wait. That's later.
So our plan was just to see a few of the animals and then do our main attraction, but we were so drawn in by the up-close exhibits, and the hand-feeding. Flamingos ate pellets out of my hand; I gave carrots to greedy antelopes; I shared a carrot with a giraffe (who slobbered on me) and an emu. A tiger and a few other wild cats in heat paced in front of their cages, just inches away (and so irritable!)
The feeding was so much fun, we bought another bag of snacks halfway through. But THE BEST part was that I GOT TO PLAY WITH A TIGER CUB.
This has been on my "list" since I was 18. I made a list of 100 things I wanted to do before I die, and "pet a non-domesticated cat" was one of them. So when I heard that the PV zoo allowed you to interact with the animals, I was all over it.
Our advanced admission fee allowed us to interact with 3 baby monkeys (who were completely crazy), a lion cub and two tiger cubs. I was so stunned by their cuteness, I forgot to ask their names,
Mom & I went in first, so Matt & JoDee could take pictures, then we swapped. The monkeys were mischievous - one stole a barrette from mom's hair, then tried to remove my hair elastic, then jumped back and forth between our heads until his handler put him away. The cats were probably just a bit too old for this exhibit, or they hadn't had a break in awhile, because they were spirited and looking for a challenge. The lion cub was more interested in my shoelaces than me, and the tigers were less interested in the cuddling I wanted to do and more ready to gnaw, bat and wrestle. I had the distinct feeling they thought they thought they were playing with their food?
They were JUST THE BEST!!
But then reality called and it was time to taxi back to the resort. The rest of the day was enjoyable too - sandcastles on the beach, more eating tasty food, a little resting too. But it pales in comparison to the fact that I GOT TO PET TIGER AND LION CUBS!!
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