This is my son’s first ever zoo experience at three years old. It was a nice father and son outing for TD (The Diplomat) and the DiploBaby. He was very excited about it and even coordinated his outfit to the occasion. I’m glad that we did not have to arrange for this outing. It was an activity of his playschool, with discounted tickets, and going as a group with his friends made it more fun.

This is not a large zoo, but it’s an interactive one. You can buy food to feed the animals. It’s important not to get those cute little fingers too close, and to always follow the zoo keepers instructions. The feeding comes at a price. Kang-kong or water spinach to feed the wild boars is Php50 (or about a dollar) and for the same price 4 chicken heads to feed the ginormous fish and alligators. They were given gloves for sanitary handling. That is not the market price for sure, but I feel like the mark-up is okay, since it’s a nice well maintained compact zoo in the middle of the city. I am sure they have to make the money for rent of prime real estate and maintenance of the animals, not just in the tickets, but also through other means.

Speaking of tickets, the normal rate if you purchase it on location is P500 per person, same rate for child, adults and yayas, but you can search online for tickets deals, like this one. Yaya is Filipino for Nanny, and we feel very lucky that we found good help here in Manila, and that it’s affordable. Caveat: local and expat rate is different of course. Expat nannies are expected to be able to communicate well in English and able to cook international dishes.

DiploBaby had a lot of fun. He came home and told me that his favorite is the alligator, and I thought it was very brave of him to sit beside the snake and the chimpanzee.

My son is doing a pose called “pogi” in tagalog. Pogi translates to handsome. I swear all the pinoy boys, and expat kids who grew up here, all know how to do this pose. I think it’s like S.O.P for the yayas to teach them this pose LOL! My son had so much fun and it was great that they didn’t have to go very far to see some animals. We are also thinking of going to their bigger zoo in Rizal, sometime in the future when TD is able to walk on both legs already and if we can plan it with a car. It’s supposedly only 1.5hrs without traffic.

ARK AVILON ZOO

Frontera Verde, Ortigas Avenue corner C-5, Pasig City, Philippines
(+632) 706-2992 • arkavilonzoo@gmail.com
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