The zoo!

Monday was a gorgeous day, so we decided to head over to the zoo. It's about 10 minutes (that's probably an overestimate) from our home. I figured it couldn't be that big since it's densely populated around us.

The Okinawa Zoo is really depressing compared to the ones back home. I probably have this view because I'm used to the San Diego Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, and Brookfield Zoo. At any rate, it is only ¥500/ adult and children under 4 are free.
Baby girl (I need to find a different name to call her on here) was terrified of everything except the bunnies and crocodiles. She is so frightened by turtles (so random) that she literally shakes in fear.




These elephants are going to look awesome midsummer when the plants are a little bit bigger. I have this new-found love for elephants after I read an article about them in National Geographic. They are incredible creatures!


At the zoo they had an 'old Okinawa home' which was really interesting.






The stone wall that enclosed the home







Crop storage. To the left of this was the well, but apparently I took that photo with my actual camera because it's not on my phone.







Stall where animals were kept






Pig stall and, apparently, also the bathroom.







The guest house or where the eldest son would live once he had his own family.







The main home.






The main room where they relax. The altar is where they put offerings to their ancestors spirits. I think they use it for other religious rituals, but I haven't read too much about it yet. The mats on the floor are tatami mats. They keep heat in during the winter and cool in the summer. They are also easily damaged so they are treated with care.
I really enjoyed learning about the home. It is easy to see why this culture is so family-oriented. There is no way someone could live in this type of close quarters and not be invested in their family. I also really appreciated how self-sufficient this home is. I imagine the inhabitants could have easily lived independently off their land. It's a shame most places like this on island were destroyed during the battle of Okinawa. Very few structures survived the war and I believe this is only a replica.

After we visited the home we went on to the actual zoo.



The monkey exhibit. There were like 6-8 cages of monkeys and most only had 1 monkey of each species in it. There were a couple that had 3 or 4 monkeys each though.





Hubby (taking name suggestions for him, too) liked this guy. He said his eyebrows reminded him of R. Lee Ermy.







I was a fan of this guy and his rainbow behind.




I have never seen an anteater this big before. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever seen an anteater.




Hippo exhibit was kind of sad




The poor lone Chimpanzee didn't even have anything to swing on and made lots of noise to protest that fact.




I've never been this close to a lion. He was the only guy in his enclosure, but he was next to a female lion's enclosure.
Maybe that's why there was this sign:


You can watch them roar here:
http://youtu.be/JP-vOinIIr4


The giraffes were pretty friendly and followed K around. At the end of the enclosure they were maybe only 2-3 feet away.




Poor elephant :(







Little K liked to pet the bunnies. At the petting zoo they had a goat, bunnies, chicks, guinea pigs, and turtles you could feed and pet. Little K wouldn't go near any of them except the bunnies.

There was this sign:



After that we walked down to the pier where we fed humongous carp and birds









On our way back to the car they were walking the ponies around the zoo. Right before the exit they were playing with the elephant


I felt bad for him. He was doing tricks and had a chain around his ankle.
We left and baby girl was so exhausted she fell asleep 2 minutes into the car ride while she was taking off her socks.