Journey into the wild

There’s something really special about Medellin’s zoo. Maybe it’s the beautiful and lush setting: a maze-like garden that is home to more than five hundred species of trees, including palms, fruit trees, acacias, coal trees, samans, búcaros, urupans, guayacans, ceibas, gualandays – located right in the middle of Medellín’s urban jungle! Maybe it’s the poetic atmosphere that piques the visitor’s imagination: in the center of the park stands a traditional hacienda with a beautiful porch constructed in the republican architectural style, a relic from the original owner of the land. Or maybe it’s simply the zoo’s classic charm with its fresco-painted walls depicting exotic animals, and Colombian families from all social backgrounds filling the pathways on weekends, that makes it so unique and endearing.

Whatever it is, el Parque Zoologico Santa Fe is definitely worth a visit for anyone who wants to catch a glimpse of the paisa (country) way of life and especially for all those eager to discover more about Latin America’s (and beyond !) extravagant wildlife. The zoo houses approximately one thousand animals native to the Americas, Asia and Africa, including many endangered species. Among the most popular animals on display are the lions, Bengal tigers, zebras, spectacled bears, harpy eagles and hippos.

Though it’s located in downtown Medellín, the vast majority of the kids from one of Globalteer’s Volunteer Colombia Children’s projects had never visited the zoo before. That’s why we recently organized an afternoon excursion for twenty of them, accompanied by one of the foundation staff and Globalteer’s volunteer coordinator. Recently arrived from Nashville and curious to discover the city’s attractions, our volunteer Mathew was excited to join the adventure too!
 
Luckily, when the group arrived early on a Thursday afternoon, the zoo was almost empty. The only things we could hear were the singing of exotic birds and growling of wild animals…We felt privileged to have the animals almost to ourselves, especially considering how crowded the zoo can be on weekends.

 
Soon the quiet paths were filled with the voices of kids screaming with joy and surprise as they ran excitedly from one animal’s enclosure to the next, their eyes filled with curiosity, captivation, fear and sometimes disgust (such as when they saw caimans hidden in mud) as they discovered creatures they had only seen in books or movies.

 The kids’ favourite was definitely the large cat section, where we had the chance to meet panthers, a jaguar, a Bengal tiger, pumas and a very curious fellow, a little “tiger cat” who seemed very intrigued by his visitors.

But what probably impressed the kids most was their first encounter with a lion. “His Majesty” was lying towards the front of his cage enjoying a huge peace of fresh meat, which allowed us to observe him very closely. He was so absorbed in his lunch that he didn’t even seem to notice the kids’ presence, even though they were staring at him through the cage bars.

Another highlight was the visit to the monkey section, especially when some of the little cheeky creatures started throwing food and… urinating in our direction! This episode caused huge bursts of laughter from everyone.

Then we happened upon a hungry parrot, which had managed to find his way out from his cage, and started to follow the kids everywhere because they were eating ice-cream. The kids also really liked the hippos, zebras, American bison, flamingos and an Andean Condor.

The most thrilling event of the day happened when we took the kids to see the lion one last time before leaving the park. All of a sudden, he jumped up from the bottom of his cage, where he had been hidden from view, and ran right in our direction, provoking the kids who were there – and the volunteer coordinator – to scream in terror! We took this as the sign that it was time to go…