Set about 40 kilometers outside of the city centre, the best way to reach the combined zoo and animal reserve seemed to be by taxi, which even after haggling and getting E' to do all the talking was still 30 dollars for a return trip out there.
The ride out to the zoo was pretty bumpy, as are most roads outside the very city centre, but in abour an hour we reached the signs for the entrance and it was here that I began to get an idea that things were not going to go as planned.
In my trip I have seen a handful of zoos and wildlife parks and this was the first time that I came across a place where the museum / gift shop is only open one day a week, there are no maps or guided walk ways and even the entrance ticket booths were empty when we arrived.
Because I was a foreign tourist the guys inside the main entrance said that I had to pay US $5, but they had no formal uniform, name tags or cards to say that they were in fact zoo employees and could just as easily have said $2 or $20 dollars as I had no way of knowing or disproving it and just as likely they could be just locals who saw an opportunity to fleece a tourist and took it.
The next thing that I noticed about the place was that as soon as we headed off towards the first enclosure we picked up a following of about 6 or 7 kids, one claiming to be a guide, all either walking or riding antiquated cycles and were at all times both in front and behind us. Judging from E' demeaner she did not think that anythin was wrong, but myself, carrying my bag, my wallet, my mobile phone and my camera the last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by a gang of street kids in the middle of nowhere, and it totally ruined the entire experience for me.
At first I did not even feel confortable to take my camera out, but then as we continued to walk around we slowly lost some of the number so that in the end we only had a following of 3 which was more acceptable but that was still 3 more than I wanted or needed.
The self proclaimed guide did his best to inform me about the species, animal names and numbers but after seing how beautiful and well set up other zoos have been, this place just looked and felt as if they had got a giant crane and just dropped a cage over an entire area and then segregated the animals that were trapped inside into types. The guides accent was almost too thick to understand and the noise he and the others made was enough to scare away the tiger from the front of the cage which in itself was reason for me to dislike him but the kicker came at the end.
Remembering that I had already had to pay a US $30 taxi fare hust to reach there, then pay US $5 for a so called entrance fee, though of course E' was a local so was exempt ( like just about everywhere in the country ) but to then be hassled for a tip at the end when all they did was freak me out and scare away the animal I most wanted to see was enough for me to get the right hump. Having not much change left I offered what little I had left but then the guide said that it was so small and that the kids needed to go to school that I should give more, even suggesting that they could give change from a much bigger dollar note, but I remained resolute and did not up my offering, chomping at the bit at being emotionally blackmailed into making a bigger tip .
However he showed no signs of being gracious and so in the end I gave up and headed on back to the car, only for E' to subtly admonish me as she felt I had been too cheap in my tip, so in an effort to appease her I went back with more than double my first tip, which was still looked upon with contempt but ultimately it was accepted, grudgingly. I so very badly wanted to tell him what I thought of him and his zoo, but I did not want to ruin the rest of the evening for myself so instead just once again bit my tongue and walked back to the car.
In all of my trip this is the first time I have felt really been let down by a zoo for good, honest entertainment and photo opportnities and also for the first time I would recommend that no one bother to visit the zoo, at least until they can get their act together long enough to provide cheap transport to and from the site and prevent a horde of kids follow your every move and put the scare in both you and the animals your trying to see.
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