Monkey Mania

Day 18

I was up early and decided for reasons unknown to myself to head to to the zoo. I don't usually care for the zoo, I think that they are animal prisons, but I decided to go there anyway.

I also decided that I would walk there. The girl at reception said that it was about an hours walk. After two hours walking in the rain I got a bus. I was cold and wet by the time I arrived. The zoo was practically empty due to the rain. This is the best time to come to the zoo, not because of the rain, but because of the small number of people there.

The zoo itself was pretty cool. The animal habitats were large and nice. The paths wound slowly up a mountain, eventually leading to a lookout over the surrounding area.

Due to the rain most of the animals were inside. This made them very easy to find. Whenever it would pour I would just hang out in which ever house was closest.

The giraffes and zebra's blinked at me. The elephants looked annoyed and walked away. A kangaroo checked me out as it stood still. One monkey had cabin fever and kept checking outside to see if it was still raining. Other monkey's pasted the time by throwing strawberries at each other.

In one house about 6 monkey's were waiting out the rain. A baby monkey climbed adorably around as its mother watched and occasionally lent a helping hand. Not to be out done a teenage monkey tried to steal the baby's play space. The baby monkey bit the older monkey in a very inappropriate place. The older monkey screeched and then ran off to tend to his wounds.

The chimpanzee's were the best. I watched as the one brought his lunch, including a milk carton, and some straw to the corner. He gingerly opened the milk and then dipped all of his food in it before eating it. When he finished he gathered his straw and made a nice bed for himself. He then laid back and rolled around in it. When it got messy he repeated the process, this happened about 4 times. Eventually two other chimps came over and started to hit and poke him. He tried to fight back, but I like to think he was a pacifist. The mean chips hit him on the butt and over the head. Eventually he gave up and left his spot. One of the other chimps took over the straw and rolled in it.

I took the bus back to the hostel. I was soaking wet and definitly in the need of some dry clothes!

Before going to bed in my upgraded room I grabbed a few drinks with the Leipzigers and a guy who worked at the hostel. It was good fun.