A Perfect Day at the Zoo

You can't go wrong taking kids to a zoo!

The second major Islamic holiday falls a month and a half after Ramadan. This holiday is Eid al-Adha, which celebrates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son. God rewarded his obedience by providing a sheep to sacrifice instead. Of course, this story appears in the Bible as well, although in Islam, Abraham's son is generally understood to be Ishmael, not Isaac. This two-week break is the popular time for Muslims to make the Hajj (the trip to Mecca) and the time for family. Relatives come together, sacrifice a sheep, and feast. They also go camping in the desert.

Since we had almost two weeks off work, we considered traveling out of the country, but in the end, we decided to stay in Riyadh. It was a good decision. Josh and I dedicated lots of time to the children, relaxed, and did things we've been meaning to do in the city but haven't yet had the time for. The first thing we did was find the zoo.

Our original goal was modest - we simply wanted to locate the zoo to find out the hours and see when family day was. In a series of fortunate events, we not only found the zoo without mishap, but the zoo was actually open AND it happened to be family day! This many things do not usually go right at one time in this city. It was a great day.



We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The weather was perfect and the zoo was a giant walkable park, filled with green grassy areas for picnics and trees for shade. Walking around it was a pleasure. Going the zoo was the most normal-feeling, relaxing thing we have done in this country. It felt exactly like it should - just families with their children at the zoo.


Misha the navigator checks out the zoo map. Ready, set, go! Monkeys first.


We all loved the baboons. So cute and ugly at the same time. Look at this adorable baby!


The kids with me by the flamingos.


We took lots of pictures of the animals. But I think the Saudis had more fun taking pictures of the American children!


Some beautiful zebra behinds.


The toucan.


The seal.


Sebby was in heaven running back and forth through the grass and on the paths.


Misha at the monkey cage.


This is undoubtedly the fattest leopard we have ever seen. Though the cages have Arabic "don't feed the animals" signs posted, the Saudis expertly ignore these and throw popcorn and candy to every animal. I even saw someone give a piece of wrapped hard candy to a monkey!



A lemur.


Giraffes!



The gorillas waddle up as close as they can get to the onlookers, grunting and holding their hands out for food. The baby chews on a Pepsi cup.


A lovely Bactrian camel.


Before we left, Misha got to wear a snake!