Itinerary > Maokong Gondola > Taipei Zoo
Being summer, the heat was smoldering but the zoo has shady areas with mist sprays to help keep the temperature down. It would advisable to have an umbrella, shades and a cap on standby during summer. You don’t have to be a child to enjoy the zoo, as long as you like animals and want to see the giant pandas.
There are plenty of F&B outlets scattered throughout the zoo, and the toilets were as clean as any toilet in a zoo can be. Once alighting from the shuttle bus, we made our way down to the penguin house, passing by the reptile house and getting to see some tortoises.
Upon entering the penguin house, I mistakenly thought that the Emperor Penguins were mannequins, when in fact it turned out that they were sleeping! If not for one of the penguins scratching itself in its sleep, one can really assume that they were mannequins on display as they were very motionless with their heads slumped over at an odd angle.
While the Taipei Zoo might not be as updated and pretty as the Singapore Zoo, the zoo did have a good selection of healthy animals in enclosures that get you as close as possible to the animals, and the entrance fee is much cheaper too. The animals looked well taken care of, though some of the habitats were undergoing construction/makeovers (e.g. the penguin house only had the Emperor Penguins).
After meandering our way down from the penguin house and seeing other animals (such as the lynx, bison, brown bear, horses, zebras, camels etc... ), we escaped into the cool confines of the nocturnal animals exhibit just before our final stop at the (main attraction) giant panda exhibit. The nocturnal exhibit, while entertaining and had a variety of nocturnal animals such as the sloth and owls, looked a little dismal and under kept (or perhaps it was the dim lighting). We even spotted a rat in one of the enclosures that was for the flying squirrels. Compared to the animals at the outdoor enclosures, the animals in the nocturnal exhibit section looked a little sad and very isolated.
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| Some of the many animals we saw |
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| Fishes in the nocturnal section |
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| Some animals in the nocturnal section |
By the time we finished walking through the nocturnal animals exhibition, it was on towards to the (much anticipated) panda exhibition! It was perfect timing as it was panda feeding time, so we managed to catch the panda happily chewing on its bamboo leaves and acting cute. There were quite a lot of people, which made it challenging to get a good shot. Next stop was the panda souvenir shop, with an overdose of panda memorabilia.
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| Taipei Zoo Panda Exhibition |
On the way out after the panda exhibit, we stopped by the koala bear exhibit before exiting the zoo. The reflection of the glass display made it hard to take a clear photo of the adorable koala, but it was adorable nonetheless.
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| Koala Bear |
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| Boy playing at water fountain in the zoo- on the way out |
We decided to treat ourselves to some yummy looking ice-cream at the Taipei Zoo MRT Station. DramaQueen had the Grape and Vanilla Flavor, while I had the Blueberry and Yogurt flavor from Prefere. Both were simply delicious and were a nice treat on a hot summer’s day. Thinking back now, somehow the ice-cream seemed to have lasted us the whole day until dinner time, must have been the excitement. ^^
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| Prefere ice-cream (Right is Grape & Vanilla Flavor and Left is Blueberry & Yogurt flavor) |
Imagine, I haven't yet been here, because I like to go to more historic places. But this is next on my schedule. Unfortunately it's quite rainy and cold these days.
ReplyDelete:) The zoo should be visit at least once (not in summer though, it's so hot!). I'm sure the perfect weather will come soon. In the meanwhile, I will happy read your posts about your adventures :p
Delete🐧🐼🐨🐯🐴🐭🐘🐑 plus 🍦🍨🍧 =😃
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