Can we agree to call it Avilon’s Ark? hehe
Anyways, I’ve been itching to pay the place a visit since I’ve read about it at Anton’s blog. Dec. 25, we went to my parents place to celebrate Christmas as we’ve already spent our Noche Buena at my in laws.
While having lunch, my mom told us she wants us to visit our uncle in pasig. Aha, perfect chance for us to go to the zoo, lapit lang kasi yun dun. So I immediately told my siblings about it and they too agreed that it might be a good family pasyalan. For one, it’s a great family photo opp since we have perfect attendance. Also, we’re pretty sure that Dani and her cousin Zack, who both love animals, will be able to have fun and enjoy the said place.
Though we left our uncle with slightly a heavy heart, by 4pm we decided to head on to the zoo. I was quite worried they might be closed already by the time we arrived. Diba nakakahinayang naman yun. We got there by 4:30pm and had no difficulty finding a parking space. Sa labas pa lang nagpicture-picture na kami. For that day, their park is open until 8pm, great! We have plenty of time :D We then immediately proceeded to the ticket booth.
Eto lang, I didn’t see their entrance ticket prices posted anywhere. While queuing on line, Donna heard it’ll cost us P400/pax, que horror eh akala ko P250 lang based from Anton’s post nga. Hmm so I had to make singit sandali to ask the lady how much ba tlaga yung tickets. P200 each pala while children 1yo below gets in for free. Haay.. so ok, kaya pa naman pala. So I went back to my place in line. They didn’t actually issue tickets, just issued receipt for the total amount paid which you will present to the guard at the entrance.
I just showed the guard our receipt and told him I paid for 9 persons. He just glanced at my receipt and stamped our wrists. Nothing special with the stamp, I think it’s an outline of a bear :D
1st level, here are the animals that we saw (sorry I can no longer remember their specific species): tiger, monkey, puma, jaguar (leopard), black bear, lion. All of which looked healthier than the ones I see from other local zoo, if I see them at all (usually lion and tigers lang din sa ibang zoo). Personally though, I think the lion needs a little more muscle as the tigers seemed more “kingly” than them.
The following animals can be petted: Parrot, eagle, owl, snake, a fully dressed orangutan, white pony (not quite sure if your child can ride it), donkey (you can feed some grass to both the pony and the donkey), a couple of lambs. Near the waterfalls backdrop is a bridge where 2 feet below you will see a crocodile complacently lying on a rock. I hope I am not OA to say that the croc can leap at you considering the short distance of the croc below. Though he looked content to stay laying there with his big fat belly, we decided to linger some place else hehe
So on we went to the ark’s roof deck where we saw the following: chicken and roosters freely roaming about. There are also peacocks, toucans and several other beautifully feathered animals in their respective cages. Surpisingly, we saw not turtles but huge tortoises and yes, you can also pet and feed them if you like :D some kids even had a kick sitting on top of them! My dani on the other hand agreed to go inside a pen with the rabbits, much to her delight. Carrots are provded to the children encouraging rabbits to come near them and be touched . I think you can also go inside the goat’s pen, mukha naman silang malinis tapos cute din naman kasi some are tisoy looking hehe..
It was almost 6pm when we decided to head on back home. As much as I wanted to taste whatever Café Amadeo had to offer, I have to pass since there’s a lot of holiday leftovers to feast on later.
Now, I ask myself: Is it worth your while to visit Avilon’s Ark? Is it overpriced at P200/pax compared to Manila Zoo with its hippos and elephants at low ticket price? I’m afraid I wont be of much help to you. I guess it was a fun trip because I have a child who loves animals and is already familiar with most of them already. She’s also currently in a curious stage, a little bit scared every now and then but most of the time brave enough to get a closer look. Time and effort-wise, I cannot afford to go back to the original Avilon zoo yet as it will take more planning to do that. Same with a safari ride in Subic and Coron.
Though I would love to see an elephant and a giraffe, I don’t think they can afford the space to accommodate them. I didn’t see any fish but I think they have two small aquariums setup halfway through the stairs leading to the deck. I didn’t bother asking if there are anymore improvements they are planning to do with the place but I guess there probably will be more.
I would have to agree, that it will serve as a good party location for a zoo/noah’s ark theme. Let’s just wait till group packages are publish before we get too excited on the notion ;)
I’ll post some pics once I get them from my sister. I’m still trying not to kick myself on my butt for mindlessly leaving our DSLR, tsk. I hope you enjoyed my kwento and do tell me if you went there, I’d love to know how your trip went :D
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