Zoo

Last week we made a family outing we'd been trying to get to for a while.  We went to the zoo.  Yes, Bamako has a zoo.  It was a required field trip of ours when we were in the Peace Corps.  Although we remembered it as a depressing place, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Marshall respond to some crazy animals.  

It was a great time.  Marshall really liked seeing the animals, well, we all did, as depressing as it was...you can just tell the animals aren't getting enough to eat and some of them are in cages too small.  But at the same time, I give Mali credit for investing in it.  There were parents and children there learning and interacting, and isn't that what the zoo is really all about?

Not pictured here is a relatively new fish and reptile house we saw.  It was actually really nice by local standards.  We received a private tour by their keeper.  Ian showed off his knowledge.  They exchanged phone numbers and I'm sure will soon be besties.  Here are some highlights.  Apologies for there only being one family shot. 

A small antelope thing, perhaps a bush buck?  

So American zoos give these animals African names.  African zoos give them Western names.  This is Leo.

A Jackal looking frighteningly like our dog Flynt.

The lion enclosure.  The white specs you see are picked clean bones of thier last few meals.  Turns out the zoo is where Bamako's donkey's go to die.

A curious and endearing warthog

One of two monkeys tied to trees to interact more with the public.  Marshall had a ball with these guys.  He screamed at them, they screamed back.  He waved his arms with glee.

So, according to a plaque on the wall of the snack bar, the signs were all done by a high school graphic design class.  Here is the manatee that is no longer there...

Marshall's other favorite animal(besides the monkey) he saw.  He really responded to this porcupine.

The first animal Marshall saw at the zoo is one he sees everyday, a donkey.  They are used as filler, it seems, for enclosures since left empty by other animals.

Maribou stork.  Ugly bird.

The butt of a chimp that was posturing at us.  Marshall thought it was funny to be mooned.

Crocodiles or "Bama", the root of the name of Bamako because they are in the river that cuts through town.

So two funny things about the signage here...first, the sign on the left is asking that you please respect the fencing as all the animals are dangerous, including the domesticated goats it seems.  The one on the right is asking that you do not give the animals your cigarettes.

Creepy hyenas

Hot and cranky leopards

Yeah...so, no there are no dinosaurs still in Africa in case you were wondering...Mali's not Jurassic Park.  But here we are walking out of the zoo and down towards the museum to find a taxi to take us home.  Ian stops dead in his tracks and lets out a bad word and we see this...all alone and with out explanation....we walk up a little further to catch a glimpse inside the gates and find...

...this...which is all built into the natural surroundings.  a couple of teenage boys walking down the street come up behind us and Ian asks what this is.  One of them says that these are Sunjdata's people...right....so there were cave men and dinosaurs still in Mali in the 13th century?

As we get closer to the museum(which is redone as of 2003, BEAUTIFUL on the outside and the definite place of our next family outing), we finally see a sign on the front of a gate leading in.  Turns out it is the "Jardin de Prehistorie" or the Prehistoric Garden.  We're looking forward to checking it out.