Visit the zoo! Now, I must confess I was dubious about visiting the place; I’d been to other African zoos and generally not been impressed by the conditions (of the animals and how they’re kept). However, I was pleasantly surprised by Bamako zoo, which was well laid out and with a good range of animals to see. AND…they were all still alive!! Okay, I admit that they’re not kept in conditions comparable with many European zoos, but after seeing Cotonou’s attempt at a zoo (ie a donkey, a sad-looking lion and two pots full of snakes), it really wasn’t all that bad. Here’s a list (from memory) of animals we saw: Lions They even used to have manatees, but their pool is now empty. The guys at the zoo assured me more manatees were ‘on order’ and would arrive soon! However, a relatively new addition was the baby elephant, which the kids loved: Click here for another blogger’s description of Bamako Zoo and here for a couple more nice photos of the place. The best thing was the entry fee: 50cfa per person (that’s about 8 pence!) Mind you, to enter the elephant enclosure, we had to pay an extra 500. T.I.A.!!!
Comments:
2 Comments posted on "Things to do in Bamako no.2"
anne on February 5th, 2010 at 8:37 am #
sweet elephant. what is the animal in the second pic? it looks like a warthog, but cant see properly.
The Vickers on February 8th, 2010 at 9:56 pm #
(Jackie) I’m so jealous – Ruth, your face reflects what mine would be like being that close to a gorgeous little ellie!! Lucky you. |