Bucket List

I LOVE THE ZOO! I am a huge animal person, so anytime I get an opportunity to see some or be around them, I jump on board! Seeing Belizean animals in their natural environment was a great experience. American zoos bring in animals for the wrong reasons, while this zoo only had animals that are endangered or injured, therefore keeping them in captivity is ultimately the best thing for them. The animals seemed content being there and happy to see the keepers whenever they came around, and they were also relatively friendly towards the observers. I also thought it was neat to see that they built the zoo around the actual jungle so it was very much like their natural habitat. It was incredible to see several animals that I had never seen, like the Tapir, Margay, ocelot, Harpy eagle and many others. For me, the most amazing part was seeing the variations of cats. Cats are my absolute favorite animal and I have never had the opportunity to see so many relatively up close. I was able to see the jaguar and ocelot eat raw meat, given by the keeper, right in front of us and got to see a total of 5 different kinds of cats! Most of them were active and playful, if not, they were at least visible! So exciting, I definitely marked something off of my bucket list today! Unfortunately, I did not get to go inside the jaguar's (Junior) cage while he ate right from the hands of the keeper around everyone. I missed the memo :( plus, we had to leave, or I definitely would have gotten close and personal with Junior! Maybe I'll have to wait until I make it to Africa someday! So far, this has been the biggest highlight of the trip!!