Since I was little I’ve loved animals… I don’t know if it’s cuz all my toys are animal-shaped or that most of the characters in my books are animals, or that mom and dad like to show me animal sounds… Which I recognize pretty well, and am able to start imitating for the most part. My faves are the Cow, Horse, Elephant, Dog, and Fish (I know, it technically doesn’t make a sound, but I can move my mouth like a fish does under water – bubble, bubble!)
Since coming to Bali, I’ve also been hanging out more with the local ‘animals’:cows, chicken, roosters, ducks, dogs, snakes, cool birds, ,…Not to mention the endless amount of ants, mosquitoes, geckos, Jeckos, and other unknown insects and reptiles…
I’ve been waiting for mom and dad to bring me to the zoo here, and they finally did today!
Well, it wasn’t exactly the Bali Zoo, it’s actually a place called the Bird Market on Jl. Veteran in Denpasar. They don’t only have birds there, they have all sorts of animals. It’s sorta like the zoo, without an entrance fee and it only has two little alleys with animals on display? Ok, it’s probably not as cool as the REAL Zoo because they don’t have Tigers, Lions, Elephants and any exciting animals like that. However, there are still some interesting creatures to check out!
There were: Bats, Owls, Big Lizards (with large poop), a real Mean-looking Rooster (good for cockfights I presume, which is a very popular ‘hobby’ for the men here), and colourful chicks…
Big Lizard - Big Poop! Yuck!
Mean-looking Rooster
Colourful Chickies
My favourite part was when we saw the painted little snails. They were so cute with their colourful shells with different faces painted on. You could actually buy a little house and pick out a few to bring home with you…Yes, they actually move!
Painted Snails - Super Cute!
It’s really weird, the big stands in the middle of the two alleys of this ‘Animal Market’ actually sell Silver Jewelry and semi-precious stones, in addition to displaying the weird creatures.
Although I was quite excited to go at first, I was a little uncomfortable after a few minutes. Some of the animals don’t look very happy and appear to be in need of a better environment. I will spare you the images, but seeing cute bunnies crammed together in cages that are too small, and monkeys with neckcuffs, among others was quite disconcerting.
Unfortunately, we did not spot this huge poster at the entrance until we were leaving – but it can give you an idea of what’s on ‘display’ inside.
Poster at entrance of Bird Market
It was a very hot day and almost lunch time, so we luckily did not stay too long.
I think I’ll stick to the cute animals in my books for now!
Little Sumo Girl 