Day at the ZOO!

Today we went to the zoo! ...I know, I know, it sounds a little childish, but after 2 days of big adventures and possibly too much sun, both Mario and I were more than happy to take a day to relax and visit some animals! Especially at this zoo! Situated in the heart of the National Park, it is a series of animal enclosures nestled in amongst the natural vegetation, with the goal to protect several species that are either rare or endangered. It is simply amazing - and we keep repeating this to each other all throughout the visit.

The newest arrival, and the new big draw, is the red panda. It is gorgeous, and SOOO FLOOFY, with its dense, cold-climate fur and ringed fluffy tail. Doesn't like showing its face, though - might be shy. I now find myself in possession of a lot of Red Panda butt shots. Still fluffy.

Parrots, parrots and more parrots, then we enter the lemur enclosure. Suddenly, we are surrounded by an army of Zoboomafoos, and they are so much fun! They jump and bounce everywhere, and get right up on the railings in their enclosure. They are taking turns reaching into hanging coconuts, pulling out pieces of fruit to snack on. One particularly spry little fellow sits down in from of me to crunch on a banana chip that seems too big for his mouth - it's hilarious to watch him try and chew the banana up.

We happen upon a caretakers filling a couple of small bamboo troughs with Marie-Galante cane sugar - the best, if you ask me - and all of a sudden, the area is full of brightly-coloured bananaquit birds. These are the same ones that I have called "banana birds", since they are always in our outdoor kitchens, eating holes into our bananas if I leave the fruit out in the open. They dig into the sugar with gusto, beaks covered in crystals, birds chattering amongst themselves as if at some important business meeting.

We zip through the rest of the zoo quickly to be able to make it to our lunch date, a 3-course take-out menu from O Z'épices, and one of the most renowned places to eat on the island. The pandemic made everyone pivot to take-away meals, and so for a modest sum, you can get a spectacular lunch, the kind that's been assembled by 5 different chefs and plated with tweezers, but served in the French equivalent to Mason jars. We decided to treat ourselves for our anniversary, but given the weird opening hours of places in Guadeloupe, we postponed it until today. Of course, my expectation were high going in, and the meal far surpassed them. OMG. SOOO. GOOD. Mario and I have decided that a long Champagne lunch is definitely the way to go when in Guadeloupe. Oh, and the sight of us transporting this high-end French fare in glass jars, tucked carefully into our muddy hiking boots in the back seat for safe travel was priceless! 

And now back to the zoo! Returning after 3 pm(and lunch) was a great idea, it is quiet and not so crowded anymore. Seems to be most people come early, then leave around lunch and don't come back. But the place is open until 6 pm, so we had the exhibits and animals all to ourselves for the most part! There was a film crew shooting a piece for France 3 in the lemur enclosure, so we watched while chatting to the zoo-keepers who were supervising the animals.

We both love the way the path weaves its way throughout the rain forest along extremely well-built boardwalks, and between the animal enclosures. The setting feels so natural and cool and refreshing, barely any sun getting through the rain forest canopy, that is is a perfect way to beat the heat and take a break from the beaches for a day. 

Making our way back to where we left off before lunch, we now head into the canopy itself via the network of suspension bridges above the park. Here, we can see the flowers and trees from above, and a handful of the "safer" animals, like turtles and iguanas -  not sure why they wouldn't want us walking above the couguar enclosure...

Back on the ground, we continue our visit with the big cats, and one particularly close-up encounter with a jaguar. We are watching the feline pacing around its cage, and next to us, a family with 2 small children turn the corner. It's like the jaguar's senses all go into high alerts, it jumps up on a perch right in front of the walkway, and stares at the little girl, who immediately panics and runs away! But the big cat stayed there, staring, and we got some magnificent views of his face up close.

Next up, the monkeys, where Mario made faces and they made faces back. Then the Green monkey bared his teeth a couple of times, which we took as an insult, and moved along. We paused one last time at the red panda, watch the furry ball of red fluff run laps around its area, up the trees, down the logs, through the bamboo branches, up to the viewing platform and down again, past its water dish for a drink and then on again. Then it was through the giftshop and out to the parking.

Today was a big day of driving, and as much as Mario loves driving these twisty-turny roads, I think even he was getting a little tired today, so heading straight home was a good thing. We spent a quiet evening nursing our respective sun burns and sore hiking muscles, looking through a ton of photos from the last 2 days - so many fish! So many animals! - and having a simple dinner of tomato sandwiches. We've had a few big days and the pace is wearing us down a little, so tomorrow might be a good time for a rest day. After all, we wouldn't want to burn ourselves out right before the end! 

P.S.: More cute animal shots I couldn't not include!