The Chronicles of Stacefly . . .: Xiangjiang Safari Park . . .

Our first day in Guangzhou, we went to the zoo. No just any zoo, but a gigantic one that houses more than 460 species, including many endangered animals.

To my surprise, as we entered the gates, I felt sheer excitement. My hubby had to slow down for something - to tie his shoe or to take a picture - I can’t remember, but I felt super anxious and told him, “HURRY UP!! The animals are waiting!!!!!”

I’m not a big animal lover. I’ve had 3 pets: a family dog named Kristy, before my little sister arrived. A black and white tabby kitten named, “Stripes” that I lucked upon as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, who lived for 10 human years. And now as an adult, I have an American Eskimo dog, which I adore to pieces.

I've loved my animals; not all animals. And okay, I’ve petted your animals when I've visited your home, but that’s where it ends. No extreme animal lover here… or so I thought.

Xiangjiang is the only zoo in mainland China to display Koalas, and it's the only zoo in the world to currently have koala twins, an extremely rare occurrence. They also have triplet pandas which were born on July 29, 2014. We got to see the (cute!!) babies, and their mama; along with white tigers, white lions, white kangaroos, red-headed Cranes, Flamingos, Pygmy Hippos, and polar bears!

Here are some pictures:

We took the local metro train. The zoo was about an hour away.

Metro is very easy in China.

From the train we took a short taxi to the park entrance. Our driver had a lengthy conversation with this other taxi driver for about 3 stop lights. Hilarious!!

First, we went to the Jurassic World. Which was a walking trail.

The prehistoric creatures hissed, roared and spit out water on people.

Me and the folks from the "Land of the Lost" :-)

At every stop there was a tour guide explaining the creatures and their function. In Cantonese, not English.

After Jurassic World, we followed the crowd and soon found that there was no turning back on the trail. And no quick exit routes, either. You had to walk the entire thing. This is where the zoo part started.

After many outdoor exhibits, we all entered air conditioned caves to see more animals.

This one was pretty cool. We got to walk through clear tunnels to see the animals above and on the side of us.

Sometimes, they turned and looked right at the camera!!

After each exhibit, we were led to a gift shop.

PIZZA!!!!! We got excited! More than just Chinese food?? Yes, but every pizza had pork. This country LOVES the pig.

This little boy was HILARIOUS. His parents told him to pose, and this is what he did.

All around the park were plants and their names.

John went through another cave bubble. I stayed in the "hallway" to take his picture. i.e.: stand under the air conditioner.

The cold air felt good! And, I got his picture:-)

Finally got food. Curry fish balls and rice. They tasted like the Veggie hot dogs I get from Trader Joes. Only worse. But the curry sauce was good so I poured it over the rice and just ate that.