Zoo trip

We visited the Taipei Zoo this past sunday afternoon. it turned out to be a long, hot, and exhausting trip but it was well worth the sweaty shirts and aching feet. we hopped on the MRT and took the train for about an hour before reaching the zoo on the outkirts of Taipei city. the zoo was huge, and it was structured in a way that made you feel as if you were actually in the wild, with various species of trees and vines and foliage draped throughout the zoo, and little dirt paths that run through fern forests. the areas which kept the animals were far more animal friendly than those that were are used to seeing. the animals have wider ranges to roam around in, more toys and objects to destroy, and a more natural setting in which to live (grass and trees, rocks and water, not like the weird clay colored rock formations our zoo places animals in). they seemed to have more of a variety of species and a higher number of each animal on display. we were hoping to see a panda bear but apparantly china backed out on their agreement to give one to taiwan. we did however get to see racoons, squirrels, and mice on display. (seriously...we have them in our garbage cans at home and these guys wanna pay to come see 'em in glass cages...what a country!) we posted some pictures so go ahead and check check check 'em out. we have a lot more where these came from...

oh, and as a side note...the picture of the spider in mid-air...that wasnt on display, that spider was hangin in a web over a statue in the zoo, it was probably bigger than my open hand, no joke.