Tuesday, July 11, 2006

THE WILD KINGDOM

Today we took the kids to Safari World and Marine World, about 40 minutes outside of Bangkok.

One of our guide books said that this is the world's largest zoo, but I really find that hard to believe. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. is certainly bigger and I'm pretty sure that even the Detroit Zoo or the Toledo Zoo are bigger.

Safari World is actually one of those places where you can drive your car through a series of different animal habitats. I have been to a similar attraction near Miami. Safari World was actually pretty fun. There's not too many places where you can go and have a giraffe stick his head in your car:



Or have an ostrich poke your window with its beak (I didn't have the guts to roll down the window for this one):



Other habitats featured rhinos, lions, tigers and zebras.

Marine World was actually kind of lame. It was crowded, run down and many of the attractions were closed (including oranguatan boxing but if you're curious about it you can check out their homepage here: http://www.safariworld.com/oran.html).

Marine World did have a few features that I have never seen before including a fountain of a tattooed woman who squirts water at unsuspecting passerbyers from her breasts:



and a statue hanging over the crocodile exhibit of some poor unfortunate soul with his foot chewed off:



There are also plenty of chances to get your picture taken with a baby tiger. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the thing going Siegfried and Roy on my kids, but he was pretty small and seemed harmless (for now).



There were a few shows to watch too. We skipped Spy War (seemed like James Bond meets the Power Rangers - the park brochure describes it as "...the only world's most live-action spectacular..." - whatever that means!), but we watched the Dolphin/Beluga show. It was OK, but I've seen better at Sea World and a few other parks.





If you want something to do with your kids in Bangkok, I would recommend Safari World, but if you skip Marine World, you're not missing much.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want one of those squirting statues!

Anonymous said...

Did you have a hard time finding it? Opps I should ask first are you driving yourself or do you have a driver?
No matter what it is a great place. Did everyone enjoy it? Did you go to the Aqua park next to it? We haven’t seen that yet? Maybe this year. Sandy - LCH

Anonymous said...

Matt,
Just found the site. Looks pretty cool. How is everyone adjusting to it all. Send more pics of the kids. Olivia looks a lot like Kassidy. Hope you are well and safe. We love you and wish this experience turns out the way you hope.
Love you, Jill