Things to bring for the field trip was prepared the day before. Chloe woke up early last Thursday ... at 5:30 am, I didn't hear any complaints or whatsoever from her when I woke her up. I simply said, "Chloe, it's time to wake up ... today is the day we are going to the zoo ..."
And without batting an eyelash, she opened her eyes, smiled and said, "Okay mom, wake up na si Chloe ... pero bakit wala pang sun?"
I explained that it was too early and the sun hasn't woken up yet. But after a few minutes, the sun will wake up soon. Of course, I was crossing my fingers when I said that. The weather had been cloudy with light rainshowers since Monday and that morning was not different.
Before we left the house, I gave Chloe Bonamine chewable tablets for kids. This medicine has been proven effective to prevent Chloe from having motion sickness and from vomiting during trips wherein we have to take the bus.
Assembly time was between 6-6:30 am at Wise Kids School. Chloe and I were inside the tourist bus by 6:15 am. Mon was not able to come with us as much as he would like to because work was scheduled for him that day. He was, however, able to accompany us to school and see us get seated inside the bus.At 6:30 am, there was less than half of us inside the bus. And thus, we had to wait for a few more minutes. We left the school at 7 am. The bus driver said it was going to take between an hour and a half or 2 hours to get to Avilon Zoo, Montalban, Rizal depending on the traffic situation.
Teacher Sharon led a short prayer before we left the school for a safe and successful field trip. Then, our tour guide ("Ate Jack") started by introducing herself and our bus driver ("Kuya Tito"). Bus rules and guidelines were discussed followed by a series of games to keep the kids awake and pre-occupied. We sang children's songs ... played a naming game of animals, fruits and veggies ... When we reached EDSA, Ate Jack gave more informative details about the roads we passed ... a little background and history plus some trivial information as well.
The trip was a smooth and easy one with light to moderate traffic. Chloe and I were seated in the front row. I paid for the tickets early so that we can choose where we want to be seated. The tourist bus was very comfortable ... there were two seats on each side ... aircondition was good ... and KUDOS to Kuya Tito's driving! He was a smooth and careful driver and I am very thankful for that.
As we reached the town of Montalban, we got more excited! In a few minutes, we were going to see the much talked about zoo in Rizal. The road to Avilon zoo was a bit narrow with only 2 lanes. As we continued our slow but careful journey, we could already see the zoo proper from the bus.
Ate Jack briefed us on some rules and regulations of the zoo:
(1) tour lasts approximately 2 hours;
(2) only bottled water is allowed during the tour ... however, there are designated areas where you can eat;
(3) cameras and videocameras are allowed ... however, there are certain areas where taking of pictures is prohibited like the "primates area". In the "reptiles area", taking pictures is allowed as long as flash is not used;
(4) tapping of glass is also prohibited
I first heard about Avilon Zoo when it was aired in Korina Sanchez's show, BALITANG K a few years back. From that moment on, I have been telling my husband, Mon, that it would be nice if we could go there for a visit too. We were able to visit Manila Zoo, January 2005, and Chloe and I had a wonderful time then.
We arrived at Avilon Zoo around 9 am. There were already other tourist buses that were parked and lots of students from other schools were lined up. We went to the restrooms first just to make sure Chloe doesn't ask us to go there in the middle of the tour.
Before the tour started, we were able to shoot a few pictures near the pavilion area (where you can buy food and buy souvenir items). Afterwhich, we all formed a line (parents on the left, children on the right).The tour started with the crocodiles area ... The crocodiles we saw came in different sizes and shades. Funny though, a capybara (largest rodent) is what you will see upon entering the crocodiles area.
Next were the birds ... I think almost 75% of the animals inside the zoo were birds. Thus the name, "AVILON" which means "land of the birds". There were different varieties, colors, sizes and shapes. There are too many to mention but all were worth seeing!
The lions and lionesses area was surrounded by water with arapaimas in it. You can feed these fish chopped chicken which you can buy for P10. When you throw these chopped parts into the water, it seemed like there was an explosion everytime it landed on the water because the arapaimas would move and make splashes.We saw more animals but I can no longer remember all their names ... there were just too many to mention. You will see more of these animals in the photo album whose link I will give later on ...
Chloe enjoyed the primates are the most. We were amazed to see the smallest monkeys ... they were soo cute! No pictures were taken during this part of the tour because this was one of the areas were taking pictures was prohibited.
There were also areas inside the zoo where you can have your picture taken with some of the animals for a certain amount. Some of these animals were owls, eagles, snakes, horse ... etc ...
Last stop was the reptiles area ... mostly snakes, with some turtles, tarantulas and the like. The snakes came in different sizes and colors ... some, you wouldn't even notice right away because their color seemed to blend in with the environment.All in all, I would say that visiting AVILON ZOO was worth the trip. Touring the 7.5 hectare area was surely tiring but you won't feel it when you're there because of all the wonderful animals you will see.
When we finished the tour, it was lunch time ... We ate our packed lunches inside the bus where it was cold and comfortable. The pavilion area was packed and the rain was pouring hard then. I wish we could have stayed longer and the pacing was slower ... but, what can we do ... it was a group tour and there were still other places to visit.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR PICTURES FROM AVILON ZOO. You may want to visit this website (http://www.geocities.com/avilon_zoo) where you can read more useful information and see other photogalleries of the animals.
P.S. Updated phone number of Avilon Zoo is (632) 948-9866; 941-8393; Entrance Fee is Php 208.00
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