Jugando con los animales

In our pre-Zoe days sight seeing usually entailed visiting interesting museums, going on hikes and eating out at hip restaurants. These days sight seeing is still interesting but definitely much different. Each weekend we are trying to get out and explore a different family fun activity near our town.

Last weekend we visited a Crocodile Park outside of Malaga and this weekend we visited a free zoo located high up in the hills from our house. I think the best way to describe both places would be "quirky but fun." The Crocodile park was a bit pricey at 15 Euros an adult but I have to say that it was well maintained and pretty informative. There was a bilingual talk given about the Crocodiles where an employee (maybe the owner?) jumped in the cage with a bunch of the Crocs and demonstrated just how quick they can move by poking a couple with a big stick. It was impressive but a little too scary for Zoe's tastes so we skipped out on the baby crocodile holding portion of the tour. Probably for the best.      

This weekend we drove just a 1/2 hour into the hills to Peña Escrita a free zoo which was actually pretty interesting. Getting there was a bit of adventure up a twisty goat trail of a road with steep cliff drop offs at some points but we made it there in one piece. The views were amazing at the top. It was a steep climb between animal habitats so I had a bit of a workout carrying Zoe around. I was surprised how many different kinds of animals were there. I think some of the highlights were the bears, lions, camel, baboons and ostriches. It was very informative, we even learned "What the fox says" (Insert catchy annoying music here). They had some black foxes that were very interested in some carrots our friends were eating and let out a high pitch wail letting us know they would like to share. The zoo also had a couple of restaurants and even a swimming pool but they were all closed with no signs about when they would open again. Such is the Spanish way. We are learning how to go with the flow.  

Semana Santa and Easter

Zoe and I had a very interesting cultural experience during Semana Santa while John visited Morocco with his Czech friends. Everyday, there were multiple religious processions throughout the streets with full marching bands and ornate heavy sculptures. Most surprising I think were the hooded men and women in these processions. It was shocking because the outfits look very similar to those of the KKK in the states. According to my Spanish teacher, the true meaning is one that dates back to the Middle Ages, when as punishment men and women were forced to wear pointed hats as they were dragged through the streets. Later, men and women began to wear the hats voluntarily as penance to God. The hoods were then added too keep their identities hidden since it was a personal act that only God needed to know about. The other big surprise, was how late these processions would last. During the week we had marching bands going past our bedroom window well into the night. Fortunately for me, Zoe is a very deep sleeper. Unfortunately for me, I am not. No amount of earplugs or white noise could mask the beating drums that paraded past our single paned windows. Thankfully, it lasted only one week. John made it home before Easter Sunday so we all had a fun time watching Zoe search for eggs and enjoy all of her fun Easter treats. I did my own egg hunt searching high and low for plastic eggs but in the end I just made my own out of paper maché. Zoe didn't seem to mind though since they still had yummy treats inside. Most of said treats were consumed by yours truly after the little rascal was in bed paired with a nice Spanish wine. Happy Easter :)