Maintained by the Parks and Recreations (I think), we were not expecting much, especially after it was panned by my trusty "Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed" guidebook. But it was free so what was there to lose?
We were excited to see some Nigerian dwarf goats (We really really want one! A neighbor up the street has two!!). There was one that was rocking an awesome beard. Unfortunately, the pictures are on Chris' camera and we have yet to discover where we packed the cord for Chris' camera. However, common farm animals...not such an exciting start to a zoo (there's a donkey too).
We finally ran into a large enclosure with monkeys (including a very heavily pregnant one!). Did you know that monkeys can use their tail just like hands and feet? Check it out!
REACH FOR IT....(WITH TAIL)
BRING TO MOUTHThere are other great animals like "Penny Ant-e" the giant anteater, a kinkajou, lemurs, exotic birds, frogs and lizards. But the star of the show is soon-to-be 12 year old white Bengal tiger, Namaste. Originally from Hawaii's ninth island, Las Vegas and owned by a magician (big surprise there!) until he came to Hawaii.
So the question is...what do you feed a tiger? Watch the following clip to find out!
(WARNING, if you are a vegetarian, you might not want to watch this - I can tell you they aren't feeding Namaste a salad.)
Chris and I were pleasantly surprised by the zoo and I will surely visit again. As we were leaving the zoo, we had another run-in with an animal. In Peru we encountered monkeys who were determined to steal Chris' hat!
MONKEY THIEF IN PUERTO MALDONALDOIn Hawai'i I almost lost my camera to a cockatoo! (Good thing Chris caught it!)
COCKATOO THIEF REACHING FOR MY CAMERA IN PANEWA
Gross, Kristen! I couldn't watch the tiger video...Leevi laughs at me because I can't stand to watch the Discovery Channel nature shows where wildlife is killed...even though I know it's just the "circle of life" :) Happy to hear you are finally settling on the Big Island...good luck with your new start to school!
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