The newsletter comes home with a permission slip for the next excursion adventure – Emirates Park Zoo. A wave of apprehension sweeps over me. I’m having flashbacks to the last excursion at the Planetarium a few months ago. I only looked after five children that day and I was completely exhausted afterwards. How do the teachers do it day in and day out?
But I remember their faces and the excitement of the day and I’m a mum of two boys so I do it day in and day out too! I guess I understand. Especially when I ask my son if he’d like to go on an excursion to the zoo. His face lights up. Would he like me to come? His face animates even more. “Really?” he beams. If I accept that I’ll be exhausted at the end of the day, I know it’ll be worth it. I know the children will be exhausted too. All that anticipation and excitement has to end somewhere right?
I’m not looking forward to the drive but then I strike it lucky. My good friend Melissa (the Queen of Ladies Night – think China Grill and Asia Asia) is driving already and I can car pool with her. Even better, Navine, Ilona, Manal and Dima are already on the list of volunteers for the day. “It’ll be fun” she states with slightly more enthusiasm than I feel. After all, what could possibly go wrong with (circa) 125 seven year old children loose at the zoo!
We cross paths in the busy school corridors at drop off time but no one has time for a chat before 7:30am. We’re busy bustling excited children into classrooms. We save our conversation for the designated meeting point at Costa Coffee next door and for the car trip to the zoo. Suitably caffeinated, the Super-Mum Volunteer Fleet depart. There are a few phone calls along the way to ensure directions are clear and we pass the fleet of school buses on the highway as we’re busy chatting. We know we’re on the right track.
Arriving at the zoo I think we’re almost as excited as the children will be and we have time for a quick mums only photo before the buses arrive. About ten minutes later and here they are. They tumble off the bus, barely able to contain themselves and the children are allocated in small groups to the waiting volunteers.
“Mumma” Jasper calls out as he sees me and he and his group of friends follow eagerly into the zoo. We start near the flamingos but quickly round the groups up – the elephant presentation is first on the agenda.
Once the children and adults alike are seated in the small amphitheater we are introduced to Madu and Rada, two Indian Asian elephants.
Asian elephants differ from African elephants in their size. African elephants are much bigger with a large adult male weighing up to 7,500kg whereas an average Asian male elephant weighs in around 4,500kg. It is also said that you can tell the difference by the shape of their ears – African elephants have ears shaped like the African continent and Indian elephants have ears shaped like, well, the Indian continent. We don’t have any African elephants here to test that theory though. Both species use their ears as a type of air-conditioning system, flapping them in hot weather to cool themselves down.
It is estimated that there are only about 30,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. Their population are severely threatened due to the destruction of their forest habitats.
They are incredibly beautiful and intelligent animals with a brain (5kg) around four times that of a human – the largest of any land mammal. Not only that but their trunk can hold around 10L of water which we get to experience as the children line up for a shower, shrieking with delight as the elephants slurp water from buckets and spray it all over the eager, upturned faces. I see Jasper and his friends jump with delight as I observe from a safe (and dry) distance.
The elephants have strong, muscular trunks which they demonstrate by lifting one of the zookeepers with it. They then lift their trunks to show us their tongues (which weigh around 12kg) and their teeth of which they usually have 26 (including the tusks) – and which also weigh in at a whopping 0.5kg each. They can also regrow their molars numerous times during their life span of around 70 years.
Then we get a chance to feed them. Given that these two girls munch through around 250kg of food each day, the tub of cucumbers sitting to the side no longer seems extreme. The children line up and some are apprehensive – these are big creatures. Nikola drops his cucumber on the first try, but we pick it up as he see his friends feeding these gentle giants everyone comes forward proffering a cucumber. Nikola has another try. The mums (and I think I spot a dad along too) get a turn as well, just as eager as the children.
Everyone is buzzing from the elephant encounter as we make our way to the bee cafe for a snack and the reptile show. The noise of five classes escalates as we congregate in the small cafe for morning tea. There is morning tea to eat, toilet breaks to arrange and Shrika’s lost lollipop to be recovered. The teachers try to calm to noise as the reptiles are shown.
First a tortoise – a land dwelling reptile. The tortoise is a type of turtle (but a turtle is not a tortoise). The shell is protective but also sensitive – it has nerve endings and the tortoise can feel it being touched. Its feet are elephant shaped and scaly. The turtle, on the other hand, has a flatter shell and webbed feet for swimming as they spend most of their time in water. Tortoises live much longer up to 150 years whereas turtles generally live up to about 40 years. They are both reptiles.
The next reptile and the one that causes the biggest reaction is the snake. This one is a python, it’s relatively small and not venomous. Pythons generally live in warm climates and they kill their prey by wrapping their body around it and using their flexible jaws to eat it whole. Last is a lizard but by this time, there is so much noise from the turtle patting, snake watching and tortoise excitement going around that I can’t hear anything. Things are calmed down enough for a few questions and then the children get another chance at patting and holding these little creatures.
After this we are left to our our devices for just over an hour. During this time, my little group consisting of Jasper, Alex, Nikola, Serene and Shrika start with the predators viewing the tigers and lions and checking in on Jasper and Shazley the cheetahs that Jasper (the boy) couldn’t wait to catch up with again after discovering his namesake on our last trip to Emirates Park Zoo not that long ago (by coincidence only).
From here we head back past the flamingos and the brown bears, through Snake Alley where we spot a few pythons, much larger than the one from the reptile show, and an anaconda.
We come our near the giraffes where we are given some grass to feed the animals. The giraffes are hungry too and happy to quickly lick up any grass stems proffered. Along comes an animal parade – drums with a hippo and elephant which the kids march and dance along with. They are laughing and playing and then spot the donkeys. More grass, more feeding. I give them all a few stems at a time and we make it last.
We take a detour to raccoons, a skunk, otters, miniature ponies and a llama and then make our way back to feed the camels. There is no grass left and I buy another bunch, they’re loving it so much and quite frankly so am I. We spot some Nile crocodiles and take a walk around the birds of prey where Alex spots a falcon eating a mouse, a bit of a grisly display.
We only have about 10 minutes left and there is still a little bit of grass to go so we head past some monkeys and feed the rest to the goats and sheep. There is still more and we spot some ostriches and emus both flightless birds. The former are quite a bit larger and from Africa, the latter, smaller and commonly found in Australia, Jasper happily points out.
We make our way back to the meeting point at the designated time, near the zebras where the remainder of the grass disappears. Then there is time for a pit stop, through the aquarium before it’s time to board the bus again.
So much excitement for one day and I don’t think they’re quite ready to settle down yet. I fear the teachers are up for a noisy ride back to school. Our car of mums, however, is decidedly muted. We navigate back to the highway and are more or less lost in our own thoughts for the trip back. We get back to school and reconvene at Costa for lunch. We still have to do school pick up and get through the afternoon but I get the feeling that it’s going to be early to bed for more than just the kids tonight. As expected, I’m completely exhausted, albeit in a good way!
Would I Return?
Yes. The setting isn’t as spectacular as the likes of Taronga Zoo or Singapore Zoo but the interaction with the animals is fantastic and there’s plenty to keep children (of all ages) entertained.
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