Bears, Bugs and Urine Jugs

The day has finally arrived that I get to write about my most favorite place...the ZOO of course! The long awaited day finally took place on August 20th when David and I went to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. I had been wanting to go for weeks but the weather has been more than unruly until just recently. So when we finally saw that it wasn't going to rain, we packed up the camera and head for the subway. It was only about a fifteen minute ride and once we got there we were completely breath taken. The view coming out of the subway was gorgeous to say the least. There were lush green mountains surrounding us in every direction and a walkway lined with vendors and lights that lead up to the Grand Park.

Now we new that it was going to be a big zoo after researching it online, but we had no idea just how big it really was! The park was miles and miles of wooded trails and picnic areas that surrounded the hundreds of different exotic animal exhibits. They had Giraffes, Hippos, Carnivores, Hoof-stock, Dolphins and Sea lions, regular Lions and Tigers, Elephants...I could go on and on forever! There were your standard cafeterias and side food vendors but they also had a huge botanical garden, rose garden, camping area, and two separate aviaries. David and I spent hours walking around the Zoo and still managed to miss about 30 percent of the animals. By the end of the day we were exhausted from all the walking. Thankfully they not only offer a tram to take you in and out of the park, they have a skyline (just like a ski-lift) that takes you from the top of the park down to the bottom with the most amazing view, so of course we rode that down at the end of the night.

David and I both agreed that not only was this the largest Zoo we had ever been to but it was also the most beautiful and creative. The Zoo is centered within the mountains and everything is built into the natural setting so there are trees and greenery everywhere. The three exhibits that we enjoyed the most had to have been the Ape Forest, the lions and the Rainforest. The Ape Forest included all your major primates such as chimps, orangutans and baboons. The thing that made it so cool is the structures and the animal interaction. The Chimp exhibit in particular had a two-fold scaffold that allowed them to climb as high as they desired with lots of ropes and toys included. The Orangutans were equally as cool because one of the females would climb up to eye level and reach out her hand as far as it would go. She was prompting her watchers to feed her, and many people obliged despite the no feeding sign. Now the loins also caught our attention because of how wild and natural their housing was. We could pretty much walk to any destination around their enclosure and have a perfect vantage point. We could even view them, and hear them I might add, from the skyline which was an added bonus. Finally we found the Rainforest to be a lot of fun because of the layout. The two-story  building allowed us to be right where the animals were, whether that was at ground  floor or up in the tree tops. They also had David's most beloved species, the Macaw, so that just made it even better.

We ended up leaving the zoo around 8pm but will most likely return for more at a later date. Now upon leaving the zoo and heading back to the subway we wanted to stop for a potato twist on a stick, which we did. However, the most memorable thing we saw and smelled upon our departure was a particular food item we had encountered a few times before...BUGS! Now these aren't your standard chocolate covered grasshoppers. When you pass by them they look just like brown and white colored larva. David didn't believe that they were really bugs but I was most positive. He wanted to get just a bit closer to examine them so as we did I got a nice whiff of their delicious scent, in all honesty the smell was so bad I nearly lost my dinner. The next day David and I were at the grocery store and sure enough what do I find just sitting there on the shelf with other supposedly normal food, right next to the tea...Silkworm pupae. That's right you can buy it in the grocery store as well as served hot from the skillet right there on the street.

My final little tidbit of information for people traveling to Seoul, don't get too close to any homeless looking person carrying a white bucket. Unfortunately there is no shortage of homeless people in the streets of Seoul. However, there is also no shortage of public restrooms yet they persist to use the restroom in these white buckets. Buckets that they then pour down the drains in the middle of public walkway. Needless to say that smells no better than the cooking baby silkworms!