Ever since I read about Crocolandia a few months back, I've been wanting to bring Nyx and Draco to the place so they can see the animals. Both my kids, Nyx especially, loves animals. Draco, I feel, only likes them because his sister loves them.
This 2-days-off policy is quite a blessing because when I learned about it, Crocolandia became my first mission.
Crocolandia is located in Talisay, Cebu. It's about half an hour from the city proper. It does not have ample parking space but it is quite easy to locate. It is open from 8am - 5pm. (We got there around 4:45pm but we were allowed to stay until 6pm.) Entrance fees are at PhP 80 per adult and PhP 40 per kid.
Upon entering, you are automatically welcomed by a big-ass crocodile lying by the side of its fenced area. HUGE!!! It was a dragon! At least, I thought so. They have a very systematic path that you don't get to miss anything when you walk around. Arrows guide your way, too. They had a huge collection of crocodiles -- for lack of a better description for them -- there were crocodiles by the water, in the water, on the side of the fence, alongside their water area, in the mud, covered in mud, open-mouthed crocs, moving crocs and the most popular and abundant kind -- the non-moving crocs. Nyx said, why are they like statues?
The oldest of the crocs was called Lapu-Lapu (named after the Filipino hero who downed the Portugese explorer, Magellan). Incidentally, they also had a Magellan but she died ahead of her Lapu-Lapu. Yup, Magellan was a girl and Lapu-Lapu's domestic partner in Crocolandia. The King and Queen of the place.
Lapu-Lapu was almost too sad to look at. He was in the water, half-submerged. His body was too dark, too. Old age? I wouldn't know.
After the crocodiles, there were the birds. Several kinds of birds. What fascinated my kids the most were the ostrich and the peacock. And then there were the reptiles. Tortoises, iguanas, monitor lizards (which I hated), Visayan lizard something, and Nyx's favorite -- the pythons!
When she saw the sign for reticulated python, she jumped up and down and shrieked: My idol! My idol! I don't know where she got the fascination for snakes because her dad is hella afraid of snakes!
We saw the cats next. Too bad there were no tigers there. Tigers would have made their day even more. Civet cats, Palawan Bear Cat and something like a chipmunk. The Bear cats were really cute except that they might have rabies because they looked so much like raccoons. And raccoons have rabies, right?
They also have a small museum-ish area where they have bones of their animals and preserved animal carcasses. The kids and I were able to hold 2 formaldehyde-smelling crocs.
And again, Nyx was amazed at the snake bones which they managed to coil.
While I was in awe of the Tarsier skeleton. Amazing! Super loooong tail! I find the Tarsier prettier as a skeleton than the actual live thing itself.
To mark the end of the trip, the kids (Jessa, Mini and Mar included) went to the playground and rode the seesaw. Yup, they have a playground. The place was not crowded because maybe we were there at closing time. Unfortunately, their restaurant was already closed by the time we finished the tour so I could not comment on their menu.
Overall, it was a great trip. Nyx said she was loving that kind of world.
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