A Trip To The Zoo
Jun. 16th, 2008 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeI've always had an uncomfortable relationship with zoos. Seeing animals moping around their inappropriately sized enclosures and being gawped at by the latest wave of people has always brought back memories akin to a Victorian freak show for me.
However, nowadays, zoos have somewhat reinvented themselves as they are now at the forefront of attempts to preserve biodiversity and maintain the existence of threatened species. What was once a situation that bordered on animal cruelty, now is a desperate attempt to prevent these beautiful creatures from being extinguished forever.
It was a perfect way to end my trip to Portugal and it was great seeing Daisuke. Leaving him at the taxi rank near the boat station on Friday morning was tough. The hospitality of both himself and his family was second to none and I had an amazing few days in Portugal with him. I also think I turned him slightly mad as he kept calling himself "The Duckiehusky" and quacking for most of the Thursday. I genuinely think that he thinks he is now a duck. Ho hum *whistles nonchelantly*.
It was great seeing you hun and I hope you can visit the UK real soon. Thanks for everything *hugs*
However, nowadays, zoos have somewhat reinvented themselves as they are now at the forefront of attempts to preserve biodiversity and maintain the existence of threatened species. What was once a situation that bordered on animal cruelty, now is a desperate attempt to prevent these beautiful creatures from being extinguished forever.
The final day of my trip to Portugal saw daisuke_miles and I take a trip to Lisbon zoo to look at the animals. The zoo itself is hidden behind what can only be described as an amusement park with a lot of restaurants tagged along its perimeters. Still, we eventually found the kiosk and for €15 we were admitted entry.
The first thing we saw was the Vale de Tigres (Valley of Tigers) where I was photographed with a new friend (although to be honest, he scared the living hell out of me).
Sadly there were no actual tigers in the compound - perhaps they had been removed for cleaning or something - but our cartoon tiger friend was very happy telling us in no uncertain terms how great his species was. No one likes an ego now hun...
Here our catty friend is looking quite happy. And so he should be as he's declaring himself the largest of all the felines. Never mind the fact that the world's tiger population is still reducing, he's quite clearly more concerned with pretending to be on an imaginary pogo stick declaring how great he is.
After the Vale de Tigres, Daisuke was drawn over to the avary where there were many delightful birds to look at. Macaws and parrots were the major species here but I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, confined in their cages, unable to spread their wings and forced to repeat "Ola" to amuse tourists. They truly were beautiful birds though and if keeping them in zoos is going to preserve their species then I guess it's a small price to pay.
We then took a cable car over the zoo but all we could really see was building sites and drained ponds. The car seemed to travel above paths rather than animals so observing the humans eating shit in the form of McDonalds was the only real delight here. Still, at least the car didn't break down and we did get to see the dolphins swimming merrily away. Sadly, we were too late to see the dolphin show but alas hopefully next time. I also got down with my homies on the cable car, as this picture may demonstrate...
I further noticed that they seemed to put the human enclosure next to the penguins for some reason as there were two beautiful females inside with the penguins. I attempted to throw a fish to one but I got told off for feeding the animals. The penguin's fur was soft and downy, oily to prevent the skin from drying out. It was an amazing evolutionary adaption. One of the humans had a clipboard but she didn't do any tricks with it, except hold something in her paw and move it across the paper.
Anyway, enough of this, let's see what our tiger friend is up to...
Ooh look, he looks like he either needs the toilet or is impatiently waiting for the bus with his paws. He's clearly asking about what time the bus will be coming and as we all know, we don't want to mess with a tiger. We'd better return later.
It was after the cable car ride that Daisuke and I decided we will film our own documentary around the zoo. The intention was to put it on YouTube but after an hour of filming, with me doing my best presenting duties, we found out that it hadn't saved to his mobile and we had lost all our good work. Dagnabbit...
The rest of the time we spent looking at all the different animals. The elephants and rhinos looked clearly bored, again probably due to the size of their enclosures, whilst the monkeys were doing their best to steal everything that belonged to us. At this point, I was munching on Ruffles - no not the furry but a packet of Ruffles potato chips - and I would be damned if they were getting their hands on those. They were very tasty. Daisuke felt the need to film me eating them.
Back to another exciting installment of our tiger friend now, let's see what he's up to this time...
Ooh he wants us to trace his ancestry back. He's telling us that he is a member of the cat family. See, despite all your bouncing up and down earlier about being the biggest and the best, in the end you are just a cat. Run along now, don't you have a breakfast cereal to advertise or something?
After our trip to the zoo, Daisuke and I headed towards Colombo again, which was fast becoming a second home for me in Lisbon. I was determined to sample one of Portugal's famous dishes - Bacalhau a Bras. Effectively, this is a rice dish with shavings of bacalhau (the word means cod in Portuguese) but I had been struggling with my conscience over the previous three days over it. I have been vegetarian for three years and hadn't eaten any fish or meat for that time. This is largely due to medical reasons than anything else. I also believe, however, in the importance of sampling as much as possible when you are abroad so I decided to take the plunge and eat fish for the first time since August 2005.
We went to a restaurant entitled Senor Bacalhau, believing that there could surely be no better place to try Bacalhau than from a man whose name is the very dish I was sampling. I must admit it was rather pleasant and I got a free glass of Portuguese Sangria (which was less pleasant) and a traditional pudding - Arroz Duce (sweet rice) - which was most excellent. It was like cold rice pudding with a bit of cocoa sprinkled on top. It reminded me of my schooldays except it tasted far nicer than the "food" I was served there.
Back to the tiger now, for the latest installment of Tiger Tails...
Ooh he's pointing to something and is looking pretty earnest. He's telling us that we should fight to preserve the tigers, which is a message that I heartedly echo. I would also say that he should spend less time on pogo sticks and advertising breakfast cereals too if he is going to fulfill his goal.
After the food, we decided to check out The Forbidden Kingdom, the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li movie. For some reason, this isn't out in the UK yet (I don't know why) but thankfully the film was with Portuguese subtitles rather than dubbing so I could understand it. It's an amazing film, with good action scenes and a very good story. Yes, it's like a lot of other movies of this genre but it's got a lot of heart to it, as well as kick-ass kung fu fun. I'd definitely go and see it when it comes out here.
On our way back to Daisuke's, we caught the tail end of a giant carnival that was going on in the streets of Terreiro de Paco. This is one of those fantastic strokes of luck that make travelling so rewarding so I dragged the green husky over to join in the festivities. There was plenty of live music - from Brazilian samba and folk to Portuguese rock - and everyone was having a good time, singing, dancing and DRINKING (note that UK government) in the streets. We saw a crazy guy do his very own dance against a tree, we saw lots of old people dancing languidly to the crooning of an old fat bloke and we saw plenty of floats (which seemed to consist of boats made out of polystyrene) get transported by lorries through the crowded streets. One guy hopped on the back of the lorry to jump the crowds building up. I also managed to get my paws on a delicious desert that was effectively a cylinder of sweet batter which had a hole cut through the centre. In the hole, you could choose a filling of your choice, which then gets pumped into the hole for your enjoyment. I went for chocolate, and it was yummy!! I later found out this carnival was part of the Marchas de Lisboa (Marches of Lisbon) - a yearly celebration of traditional marching and music that takes place at this time of year.
daisuke_miles and I take a trip to Lisbon zoo to look at the animals. The zoo itself is hidden behind what can only be described as an amusement park with a lot of restaurants tagged along its perimeters. Still, we eventually found the kiosk and for €15 we were admitted entry.The first thing we saw was the Vale de Tigres (Valley of Tigers) where I was photographed with a new friend (although to be honest, he scared the living hell out of me).
Sadly there were no actual tigers in the compound - perhaps they had been removed for cleaning or something - but our cartoon tiger friend was very happy telling us in no uncertain terms how great his species was. No one likes an ego now hun...
Here our catty friend is looking quite happy. And so he should be as he's declaring himself the largest of all the felines. Never mind the fact that the world's tiger population is still reducing, he's quite clearly more concerned with pretending to be on an imaginary pogo stick declaring how great he is.
After the Vale de Tigres, Daisuke was drawn over to the avary where there were many delightful birds to look at. Macaws and parrots were the major species here but I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, confined in their cages, unable to spread their wings and forced to repeat "Ola" to amuse tourists. They truly were beautiful birds though and if keeping them in zoos is going to preserve their species then I guess it's a small price to pay.
We then took a cable car over the zoo but all we could really see was building sites and drained ponds. The car seemed to travel above paths rather than animals so observing the humans eating shit in the form of McDonalds was the only real delight here. Still, at least the car didn't break down and we did get to see the dolphins swimming merrily away. Sadly, we were too late to see the dolphin show but alas hopefully next time. I also got down with my homies on the cable car, as this picture may demonstrate...
I further noticed that they seemed to put the human enclosure next to the penguins for some reason as there were two beautiful females inside with the penguins. I attempted to throw a fish to one but I got told off for feeding the animals. The penguin's fur was soft and downy, oily to prevent the skin from drying out. It was an amazing evolutionary adaption. One of the humans had a clipboard but she didn't do any tricks with it, except hold something in her paw and move it across the paper.
Anyway, enough of this, let's see what our tiger friend is up to...
Ooh look, he looks like he either needs the toilet or is impatiently waiting for the bus with his paws. He's clearly asking about what time the bus will be coming and as we all know, we don't want to mess with a tiger. We'd better return later.
It was after the cable car ride that Daisuke and I decided we will film our own documentary around the zoo. The intention was to put it on YouTube but after an hour of filming, with me doing my best presenting duties, we found out that it hadn't saved to his mobile and we had lost all our good work. Dagnabbit...
The rest of the time we spent looking at all the different animals. The elephants and rhinos looked clearly bored, again probably due to the size of their enclosures, whilst the monkeys were doing their best to steal everything that belonged to us. At this point, I was munching on Ruffles - no not the furry but a packet of Ruffles potato chips - and I would be damned if they were getting their hands on those. They were very tasty. Daisuke felt the need to film me eating them.
Back to another exciting installment of our tiger friend now, let's see what he's up to this time...
Ooh he wants us to trace his ancestry back. He's telling us that he is a member of the cat family. See, despite all your bouncing up and down earlier about being the biggest and the best, in the end you are just a cat. Run along now, don't you have a breakfast cereal to advertise or something?
After our trip to the zoo, Daisuke and I headed towards Colombo again, which was fast becoming a second home for me in Lisbon. I was determined to sample one of Portugal's famous dishes - Bacalhau a Bras. Effectively, this is a rice dish with shavings of bacalhau (the word means cod in Portuguese) but I had been struggling with my conscience over the previous three days over it. I have been vegetarian for three years and hadn't eaten any fish or meat for that time. This is largely due to medical reasons than anything else. I also believe, however, in the importance of sampling as much as possible when you are abroad so I decided to take the plunge and eat fish for the first time since August 2005.
We went to a restaurant entitled Senor Bacalhau, believing that there could surely be no better place to try Bacalhau than from a man whose name is the very dish I was sampling. I must admit it was rather pleasant and I got a free glass of Portuguese Sangria (which was less pleasant) and a traditional pudding - Arroz Duce (sweet rice) - which was most excellent. It was like cold rice pudding with a bit of cocoa sprinkled on top. It reminded me of my schooldays except it tasted far nicer than the "food" I was served there.
Back to the tiger now, for the latest installment of Tiger Tails...
Ooh he's pointing to something and is looking pretty earnest. He's telling us that we should fight to preserve the tigers, which is a message that I heartedly echo. I would also say that he should spend less time on pogo sticks and advertising breakfast cereals too if he is going to fulfill his goal.
After the food, we decided to check out The Forbidden Kingdom, the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li movie. For some reason, this isn't out in the UK yet (I don't know why) but thankfully the film was with Portuguese subtitles rather than dubbing so I could understand it. It's an amazing film, with good action scenes and a very good story. Yes, it's like a lot of other movies of this genre but it's got a lot of heart to it, as well as kick-ass kung fu fun. I'd definitely go and see it when it comes out here.
On our way back to Daisuke's, we caught the tail end of a giant carnival that was going on in the streets of Terreiro de Paco. This is one of those fantastic strokes of luck that make travelling so rewarding so I dragged the green husky over to join in the festivities. There was plenty of live music - from Brazilian samba and folk to Portuguese rock - and everyone was having a good time, singing, dancing and DRINKING (note that UK government) in the streets. We saw a crazy guy do his very own dance against a tree, we saw lots of old people dancing languidly to the crooning of an old fat bloke and we saw plenty of floats (which seemed to consist of boats made out of polystyrene) get transported by lorries through the crowded streets. One guy hopped on the back of the lorry to jump the crowds building up. I also managed to get my paws on a delicious desert that was effectively a cylinder of sweet batter which had a hole cut through the centre. In the hole, you could choose a filling of your choice, which then gets pumped into the hole for your enjoyment. I went for chocolate, and it was yummy!! I later found out this carnival was part of the Marchas de Lisboa (Marches of Lisbon) - a yearly celebration of traditional marching and music that takes place at this time of year.
It was a perfect way to end my trip to Portugal and it was great seeing Daisuke. Leaving him at the taxi rank near the boat station on Friday morning was tough. The hospitality of both himself and his family was second to none and I had an amazing few days in Portugal with him. I also think I turned him slightly mad as he kept calling himself "The Duckiehusky" and quacking for most of the Thursday. I genuinely think that he thinks he is now a duck. Ho hum *whistles nonchelantly*.
It was great seeing you hun and I hope you can visit the UK real soon. Thanks for everything *hugs*
