Trip to the Contact ZOO

Hi,

Since I was a child, I was taught to love nature and animals. I spent a lot of time in the forest, mainly thanks to my father. He worked in the forest, planting trees and taking care of them. And I used to help him, even though as a little boy, I probably didn’t contribute much. Nonetheless, we saw many animals that live in the forest, and we often visited the zoo together. I try to raise my children with the same mindset. Nowadays, there are more opportunities to get to know animals and build a relationship with them—certainly more than when I was a boy.

One option is visiting a petting zoo, a place where you can feed the animals, be in their enclosure, and even hold and pet some of them. One such place is the petting zoo in Liptovský Mikuláš, where we headed today.

It's a beautiful summer day, and together with our kids and friends, we are going to see the animals. There’s a line at the entrance, a sign that this place is quite popular. We go through the turnstile, and we’re inside.

There are several paths we can take. Where to start? We walk by the big predators, such as white tigers, lions, and bears. As I mentioned, it’s a beautiful summer day, and it’s really hot outside. No wonder this bear decided to cool off in the water. Although, in this picture, it reminds me of a castaway from a movie, clinging to a piece of wood with all its might in the vast ocean.

We move on. In this enclosure, there are pelicans. They just came out of the water a little while ago. It's nice that the animals here have an environment designed to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

We arrive at an area where various attractions for children are set up. Although my kids love animals and want to see and play with them, a playground is still a playground. Playing is just a bit more exciting for them.

Taking us back to the distant past is a small dino park, dominated by this Tyrannosaurus.

The kids played, we had something to eat, and now we’re heading to a building with a sign: Reptile Pavilion. We go inside. My son wants to pet a snake. My daughter is scared and prefers to stay outside.

What do you think? Did he pet it? Not only that, but he even held it in his hands. I hadn’t seen him so happy in a long time. He was as thrilled as if his lifelong dream had just come true.

We walk past this church to a small park with a lake.

The lake is full of fish, but also these beautiful water lilies. They are a feast for the eyes and for the lens of my camera.

We pass through a pavilion where various colorful butterflies are flying around us, as well as these small birds.

I like it best here. There are parrots you can hold on your hand. I took pictures of several kids who had this parrot on their hand, and they all had the same expression on their faces. I think that expression says it all.

From this moment on, my kids want a bunny at home. I wonder why? In the entire pavilion, rabbits are running around our feet. Each one is different. One is black, another white, and the third one is spotted. It’s wonderful. We can feed and pet them.

Our trip is coming to an end. We saw the animals. We petted those we could. We played on the playground. We ate. It was great, what more can I say?

On our way out, we pass by some metal miniatures. Various famous buildings are created here, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or Big Ben.

Thank you.