The Night Zoo

The Night Zoo

There are only two zoos in the world that are open at night. One is in Singapor, the other is the Fuengirola zoo in Spain.

If you visit the link, be sure to look at the virtual visit - click on the map, you can look 180° around the area, and click on the camera icons for information about the animals in the zoo.

The Fuengirola zoo is another zoo without cages. The animals live in large, grassy areas with plenty of trees and water about. The settings are beautiful - actually, the whole zoo is gorgeous, and no detail is spared for animal or visitor. I was impressed at how clean the zoo was, and how healthy the animals appeared. Another first for a zoo - several different species live together in the same area, and we saw monkeys playing with a large hornbill, an otter playing with a water buffalo calf, and the cutest little baby orangutang in the world!

But what's magical is at night - when the sun sets, the zoo changes. The monkeys all curl up in trees to sleep - but the leopard and tiger wake up and start to roam. The deer and the alligators are on the move, and the creatures who were dozing are suddenly playing. The zoo has a show at night as well - called 'The Forest Clearing', it features trained owls and other creatures of the night. Then there was a musical presentation from an African group of musicians and dancers, with all the children invited to dance on the stage.

My pictures don't do justice to the zoo - here is one of one of the animal settings. My night photos didn't come out, because I didn't want to use a flash. My daughter shot this picture of a parrot and wanted me to include it in the blog!

If you're ever in this corner of the world, don't hesitate to go visit this tiny but beautiful zoo. It's right in the middle of the city, but once you step inside, you feel as if you're in a tropical jungle. And you must stay for the night - it's open until 1 a.m. during the summer months.