Regular Zoos are “OK” but we’ve become zoo snobs and often look for more intimate animal encounters. So we skipped the Bali Zoo and hit these three instead:
Hidden Zoo
This really is hidden. The cab driver had never heard of it, so we just got dropped off on a seemingly random (thank you Google Maps) small village street. Then we walked along a little creek and through some small vegetable fields to arrive at this tiny zoo. At the entrance we got greeted by a mini pig. We followed it to the bathroom where it liked to hang out.
Upon entering, we walked by some cages but immediately noticed that quite a few iguanas, peacock, and other birds were wandering around NOT in a cage. A short walk later, we reached the real highlight: a little courtyard for hands on experiences.
The staff there was super insistent on putting animals on you in any way possible. Baby Bear loved holding a snake (no scratchy claws) while the adults got giant pythons wrapped around our shoulders.
I held a live scorpion in my hands (that was a bit scary), and Mama Bear overcame her fear of spiders and held an actual tarantula in her hands!
There were several large fruit bats that were super friendly and liked to lick you like a dog. You could hold the bat by the hind legs (hanging upside down of course), but it would immediately try to grab onto you with its hooked wings so it could like you with its rather rough tongue.
We also pet a luwak, baby iguanas, hedgehogs, geckos, and an owl.
After we exited the zoo, we ate at the restaurant which had a beautiful view of the fields. Baby Bear found a caterpillar in the flowers
Bali Bird Park
Another day we went to a bird-only (and a few komodo dragons) zoo. The Bali Bird Park is set on beautiful grounds and has a few shows and lots of feedings.
One of the highlights was holding a macaw upside down like a baby! It was very calm and happily chomping on peanuts.
We also got to feed fish to giant Australian Pelicans and cormorants.
So many pretty birds everywhere
!
Night Safari
Finally, we also went to the Safari, but instead of going during the day, we tried their special nighttime safari/dinner/show event. The dinner and show were mediocre, but the highlight of the trip was riding in a special cage on the back of a truck. This allowed them to have lions and tigers come right up to the cage and get fed. We also fed zebras and camels. But the main attraction was having tigers climb on top of the cage, a rather intimate way to view tigers.
To be honest, the cage ride wasn’t that thrilling. But at dinner, we had an awesome view of the lion encounters. Even the bathroom had a view into a lion’s den.
There was also a pangolin on display that we were allowed to pet! And Baby Bear also got to pet an elephant. Lots of animal firsts on this trip.
lick, not like.