The No Petting Zoo

We had another 4-day weekend (we get at least one long weekend per month due to various religious holidays) so we decided to take the kids to the Lost World of Tambun in Ipoh...an amusement park with water slides, rides, and a petting zoo. This meant we had to venture off the island and onto the mainland and then find our way to this place which was about two hours away. We got slightly lost but we finally found it. It was absolutely beautiful and the kids had a blast.

The best part by far was the petting zoo. It was interesting and bizarre at the same time. We've been to petting zoos before...you know...some bunnies, some sheep, a cow or two. But this place was NOT like that. As we walked in, the first exhibit was RACCOONS!!! I was like, ummm...what? You don't PET raccoons! You AVOID raccoons. In fact, you sometimes pay a company good money to GET RID OF raccoons! The funniest part was when the tour guide told us they "imported" the raccoons from the U.S. I almost fell over laughing! I told him, "Wow, I would have brought you one for free!"

Other "unusual" animals at this "petting zoo"? Porcupines, skunks, boa constrictors, hedgehogs, and monitor lizards. Obviously their idea of a petting zoo and my idea of a petting zoo are VERY different.

There was also this incredible aviary with some of the most unusual birds I have ever seen. We got to feed them and they swarmed us and ate right out of our hands! It was so fun. John also got to hold a 18 foot burmese python and Kyle had a huge scarlet macaw on his shoulder. And the entire park was carved right out of the center of the jungle. As we were looking at all the venomous snakes and vicious lizards, I asked the tour guide where they imported the animals from. He looked at me quizzically, pointed to the jungle right behind us, and said "we just go out there and catch them!"

OK, time to go kids.....