Celebrating Halloween is an American tradition and I am amazed how we've adopted this holiday here in the Philippines. Usually, Gabby participates in trick-or-treat promos in malls but for this year, we've opted to have a roaring Halloween celebration at
Zoocobia Fun Zoo at
Paradise Ranch in Clark, Pampanga and
Zoobic Safari in Subic, Pampanga on October 30 (the day after my birthday).
One of the first things you'll see in this open zoo is the Bird thrill. There's a small, man-made pon for the ducks and an aviary where you can feed love birds on the palm of your hand.You can see more colorful and exotic birds at Birds of Paradise. Gabby was too afraid to hold any of these birds so I held them instead. She took the picture below.
We spent the day up close and personal with all kinds of animals. Gabby had a fun time feeding the birds, monkeys, and camels at Zoocobia Fun Zoo.
She also rode a a white miniature horse with the assistance of one of the attendants at the zoo. I took a video of her of while riding the horse and will be uploading it on a separate file.
She wanted to feed the ostriches but these two were very playful. I was afraid they'd chew her head. We let a couple of other bloggers feed them.
Zoocobia Fun Zoo has a barn where you can pet and feed animals. It's A Small World is a an enclosure full of cute goats and adorable pot bellied pigs. You have to pay 20 pesos if you want to feed them a two ounces of fresh milk. I seriously wanted to take home one of those pigs!
The zoo features the first and only gravity car in the Philippines! It's like a bump car sans the engines. You just push and pull the handles. It wasn't able to take a picture of her riding this because I was riding it with her. It was a very fun ride down! She wanted to go another round but there were many guests waiting for their turn so we just went to eat at the canteen after which Gabby played on the railings.
There is a ZOOVENIR shop where you can buy stuffed animals, t-shirts, and other souvenir items. It was too hot outside so we played around the shop and tried their hats.
Here's a very cute picture of Gabby that was taken during at the zoo. I call it Gabby the Chipmunk.
There was also an animal show where Aeta kids performed their traditional dances to the beat of a native drum. A poodle and a pair of African birds performed tricks that held both kids and adults in awe.
One thing I notice though is that Gabby isn't as crazy about touching animals as I am. She's still afraid. I had to urge her to feed some animals and pet them. She did eventually. This made me think that maybe Zoocobia Fun Zoo should offer summer camps for children so that they can be comfortable around animals. It would be a good educational experience for kids and they'll come to value and love animals after the camp is over.
