You are going to the Jew?

Manum jew-lo vochamu!

Translation: We went to the zoo! Or, as the Indians say, the Jew! Where all the Jew animals are!




This Jew was like no other. First up, a couple of crocs. We were jealous of their swimming pond. Next, some deer. Oh, there's a fence? No problem, just step over it. You can get a better view of the wildlife...



He wanted a snack, but only got a salty lick of my sweaty hand:



Then, more deer, some water buffalo (Which didn't make sense—they were in a cage when there are water buffalo roaming the streets everywhere.), a ½ mile walk in 98% humidity, some more deer, a ¼ mile walk, some more deer...but then:



Snake-bears and Wolf-jackals? Best zoo ever.

No, but really. We saw some giant trees,




and some giant squirrels (again, we stepped under the fence, and the “guard” encouraged us to pet them. I was nervous about diseases.),




not a great picture, but these are the size of house cats.


Then, we found lots of monkeys. Look at this guy. So angry. So frightening.




I should have brought him an arreti pendu.


We saw a lazy leopard,




a lazy hippo,




and a hard-working tree.




As we were taking pictures of this lovely tiger,





one of the zookeepers told us we could go inside—for a small price, of course. 100 Rupees got us...more than we bargained for. We went inside a building where 5 tigers were being kept. Being face-to-face with these beautiful, tragic creatures was heart-wrenching, to say the least. I had to resist the urge to reach in and pet him.



We tried not to let it get to us. And we said no to the zookeepers at the white tiger and the lion enclosures that tried to lure us in to their weird tourist trap.


Bargaining with the rickshaw driver to go home was funny:
Us: There are eight of us, so we'll go four in one, and four in another, for 50 Rupees per auto.
The driver then shoos the 2nd auto we flagged down away.
Us: No, we need that one, there are eight of us. Four people will go with you for 50 Rs, and four will go in another.
Driver: No, eight people, 70 Rupees.
Us: Well...okay.

So, eight of us squished in a rickshaw that would comfortably sit three people, and squish four, perhaps five. Collin kept yelling, “Lean to the right! Lean to the right!” I thought we were going to tip or lose someone out the door, but we made it. New record. And I don't think it can be beat. I couldn't get a good picture from my place on Ally's lap, but you get the gist.