"Don't go to the Zoo, It's Dirty..."

Nepal... the ongoing saga....

On my second day of visiting the factory site (Deb stayed in the hotel pretending to be sick, and watched Bali-wood movies, all day), the only truly remarkable item was that I caught a glimpse of an emerald rat snake, crawling along the stone wall that encloses the factory courtyard. It was the movement that attracted my attention, when I saw this majestic, beautifully brilliant, green snake slide silently under the wall. From 20 feet away it looked like it was about 5-6 feet long; about as thick as my wrist, with a large, bright eye. Of course, my camera wasn't ready, so I had to pull this image off of the web.

While I was thrilled with my wild-life encounter, (still hoping to see a tiger or leopard in the wild), the factory personnel were very concerned that I would be upset by it. So, just to mess with their minds, I kept bringing it up in conversation.

Since, we were told that it wasn't the right season for leopards or tigers to come down from the heights, Deb and I decided to visit the zoo. Our suggestion was met with abject horror. Our host cautioned us that we wouldn't like the zoo, because "it is dirty." I was stunned and amazed. Daily, we drove through the city streets where goats are butchered on the side-walk, while the wild dogs fight over the offal. Dead animal carcasses are on display everywhere. Trust me, you would never eat chicken again, if you had seen what I've seen. It's hard to imagine that anything could be "dirtier" than real life in the city, so our passion for zoos won the day.

Our host was right, it was dirty. But, we spent a pleasant afternoon. Here are some of the photos we took:

The hyena (or is it a jackal?) was only about five feet away from me, when I took this picture. The fence that he was in wouldn't hold my cat (if I had one).

Unfortunately, the selection of animals was pretty limited, but they had some amazing birds.

Guessing that these are a chicken and a condor, but couldn't tell you for sure. Unfortunately, the man-eating tiger didn't make an appearance, but the leopard was pretty lively.

Next time... The Ancient City, and The Feast to end all Feasts!