Last month, we decided on a whim to visit Manila Zoo and being Manilenos, my brother and I were only asked for half the price of the enrance fee (we paid only P20 instead of the regular P40) while my mother didn’t have to pay the entrance at all since she was a Senior citizen already.

Upon entering the zoo, we first came upon the reptiles section and there were huge pythons and iguanas calmly resting while we gawked and stared at them.

One man was displaying an iguana outside of the cage but I couldn’t bring myself to hold the entire iguana so I let him hold it while Ma snapped this pic. It had extremely rough skin and it’s claws were rather sharp.

We passed by the crocodile and people kept throwing coins at it in order to make it move since it simply stayed put with its mouth opened wide.

This deer was certainly hungry for grass, which Leila and I gladly fed. This was my favorite part of our trip since I got to interact with the animal.

I think I was about Leila’s age when I first visited Manila Zoo. Our parents brought us here several times and it would always be such a thrill to see all the animals. We posed in front of the elephant, which seemed to be very old already.

Upon seeing how big this tiger was, I wondered out aloud how many carpets this tiger would create…that being a joke, of course.

We had fun in the monkey area, where the primates were free to swing in their play area. One monkey was bold enough to come close to the grill and was given a treat by one visitor. I recall the time when we looked at the monkeys and one babboon was so playful that it drunk water and sprayed all those near his cage.

I was taken aback by the huge hippos that were feeding off the grass set out for them. Even though they are herbivores, some can still be aggressive enough to attack humans and their massive teeth can rip out limbs at a time if you’re not careful.

Yet another highlight of the trip was our trip across the manmade lake right at the heart of Manila Zoo. We could have all fitted in the boat but Mama got a bit nervous and decided not to come with us.

Enjoying the tranquil ride across the manmade lake in Manila Zoo as Joseph rowed the boat

In the middle of the lake was a small area for birds and they flew around freely in their small island.

Nearby was a children’s playground where Leila had great fun going up and down the slide while other children played in the interactive fountain.

There was a Kinder Zoo that had a separate entrance fee and you could approach the animals since they were not confined to cages.