Hot Subic 2

The tigers did not disappoint.

Today we went to Zoobic, the Subic Zoo and Tiger Safari. It was a long drive from the hotel; good thing we had a ride since we were accompanied by James and Liezel, SOLV couples.

We began the trip with a tour of the many different animals of the zoo. Our tour guide showed us some birds, rodents, reptiles, and some farm animals. I was particularly amused with the goats that roamed freely, they were literally everywhere. The first part of the tour ended with an animal show featuring 2 dogs, a pig, and a monkey. The first dog came in with a monkey riding at his back. He did some of the usual dog tricks. The monkey did his usual monkey tricks as well. He, however, did shoot some slam dunks on a miniature basketball boards. Good monkey, he got 3 out of 5 attempts. I couldn't help but comment, buti pa siya nakakashoot ng slam dunk.

The second part of the tour was the mini-safari. We began with the tiger safari. The tour guide herded us into small jeeps that were enclosed in iron bars. We were in a convoy of 3 jeeps. Two of the jeeps had passengers who bought chickens to feed the tigers. And then the trip started. We went inside an enclosure where 3 huge tigers roamed freely. The jeep in front of us started giving out portions of a chicken. One of the tigers came closer, sniffed at the chicken, then took a bite. Since then, it kept following the jeep. It ate every time a chicken part was given. And then, it happened. The tiger leapt on top of the jeep! Man, the people inside were shouting! The tiger was pacing back and forth on top of the jeep, looking for parts of chicken. Suddenly I felt very relieved. Watching the first (and 3rd) jeep was exciting enough. I think I would explode if a tiger lunged at our jeep then jumped on the roof!

It was all over in 10 minutes. The three jeeps got out of the enclosure and ended the tiger safari. I looked back and saw one of the tigers watching and drooling as our jeeps emptied and a new batch of tourists boarded with chicken. Must be nice being a tiger in that zoo. They eat all day!

The next part of the tour was the savannah. We were led to a huge area where ostriches and pigs roamed freely. Too bad we did not stop too long to interact with the ostriches. I was hoping to take a picture of me and an ostrich, up close and personal.

Up next was the crocodile farm. Our tour guide informed us that there was a total of 200 crocodiles in the entire area. Yikes! Some of the tourists bought chicken again to feed the crocs. The crocs were all over the place and they were motionless. The chickens (put in fishing rods) were swinging, and at first nothing happened. Then, one by one, some of the crocs snapped quickly at the chickens. Scary! We went around, looking at the many crocs, watching them devour the chickens one by one. Not really pleasant, but entertaining nonetheless.

We finally ended the tour and spent some time cooling down and eating chips and ice cream. Afterwards, we asked James to drop us off at one of the duty-free shops. We did some shopping and bought some neat items at bargain prices. The shoes were unbelievably low-priced! Too bad we were running out of time; I would have loved to go around to get myself a new pair. Good thing we still had two more days. We also saw bottles of Bailey's which were sold at least a hundred pesos cheaper than local supermarkets. We would have bought a couple of bottles (one for us and another for James and Liezel) but our groceries were already too heavy and we still had to walk back to the hotel. I still can't believe the entire area did not have taxis. At least we still had tomorrow.

The day ended with an evening dip in the hotel's pool and a humongous dinner at Xpresso. We had our fill of all-meat pizza and meatball spaghetti (which tasted suspiciously like catsup).