At the Zoo

 

Today Shuma and I went to the Inokashira Park Zoo with one of our playgroups. It was his first visit to a zoo, and my first time at the main section of this particular one- the zoo is actually split into two parts, with a smaller section inside Inokashira Koen, the park in Kichijoji. That part only has a few aquariums and birds, and when I went years and years ago I thought that was the entire zoo and came away rather disappointed.

But the main section is way better, if only because of the guinea pig petting zoo. I love guinea pigs and used to have one of my own, so I was thrilled to get a chance to cuddle with one again. When Shuma saw the box full of piggies he was immediately interested but quite nervous, and it took a while for him to get close. When I finally picked one up and showed him how to touch it gently he relaxed and petted it a for a while, and we both giggled as it licked our fingers.

Eventually he started poking its eyes though (do all toddlers do this or is Shuma a little freak?) so we had to put the piggy back, but it was so nice to play with it. Now I want to get a guinea pig of my own. Probably a very bad idea.

The zoo is very small and we saw everything fairly quickly, but the grounds were fairly nice with some cherry trees just coming into bloom. Shuma was just as impressed with the grass and trees and fences as he was with the animals- the few animals he noticed at all he pointed at, said "doggy" and moved on. Except for the owl, which he identified correctly ("ooh ooh!"). Owls are his favourite animals after dogs.

The zoo's most famous exhibit is Hanako the elephant, who at 65 is the oldest Asian elephant in Japan. She has had a hard life and seeing her in her concrete jail cell made me sad. A lot of the animals there were also trapped in tiny concrete pens but Hanako was the sorriest looking. I wish the whole zoo was just guinea pigs and farm animals, it would be just as fun for the kids and way less depressing for the adults.

Here's Shuma playing with Hiyori, the closes thing he has to a playmate, and her older sister Jessica, who watches over Shuma like she were his sister too. The kids got to fool around after a picnic lunch and then we saw the rest of the zoo, and I was hoping to pet some more guinea pigs but Shuma fell asleep.

So I walked around Inokashira Koen to see the cherry blossoms. They were only just starting, but it was a nice way to let Shuma nap and get myself some exercise. I wanted to stay in Kichijoji a little longer but it's been so long that I've been there that everything seemed unfamiliar and I didn't know where to go. Weird, I used to work there and live nearby and hung out there all the time. So when Shuma woke up we just caught the bus home. If only the bus ride weren't so long and so crowded (and so full of old people who deserve seats more than we do- not fun standing up and carrying Shuma for 45 minutes) we'd be hanging around in Kichijoji and cuddling guinea pigs all the time.

 

Inokashira Shizen Bunkaen (Inokashira Park Zoo)
1-17-6, Gotenyama, Musashino-shi, Tokyo
0422-46-1100
Open Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 to 5:00, closed Mondays (closed Tuesday instead when a public holiday falls on a Monday)
Admission 400 for adults, 200 yen for seniors, 150 yen for students 13 to 15, free for children 12 and under
Stoller and wheelchair accessible, nursing room and change tables available.

Comments

[Diana]

It sounds like a very beautiful day you guys spent! All kids are poking eyes, mine also tries to poke mine :)

Have many more beautiful days like that!
Diana

[lil]

yes poking eye toddler here. He is sooo cute, specially that one with his little jacket gently touching the nose..we have a cat so my toddler really tries to get him to lick her all the time..what's with that? looks like he's trying to do the same thing lol

beautiful sakuras, we lived in shakuji koen/nerima area and bike rode to that park back in the day.

[dawn]

looks like eye-poking is pretty common; mine does it too. our poor dog gets poked, and so do i (but fortunately, wear glasses!).

[Mari]

Elephants are such social creatures; it's a crime to keep them in captivity, and apart from their kin... it's like a death for them.

[catherine]

J'adore la 1ere photo, Shuma est juste adorable!