Went to Zoo and Botanical Garden Today
Started off at the zoo. Since I got there about time zoo opened, it looked like it would be a long wait for the train, so I walked in. Really not that much of a walk past some bird cages to where the animals are.
Good selection of animals and had no trouble seeing them all. But not a lot of activity, except when the attendants went around with food between 10 and 11. The animals I saw being fed were getting something that looked like sawdust. I wonder if that is all they get. But they seemed to like the food.
Some of the animals are in large areas with plenty of room to run and roam. Others in smaller enclosers. Only the birds and monkeys in cages, others separated from public by fence or moat.
Property was clean, seemed to be a lot of personell. No litter around.
Childrens zoo has good selection but since there were no children there when I was, did not see anything that made it stand out.
For lunch I walked to the recommended Supermercado Nacional. I can confirm they have an excellent buffet. But it is a long walk from the zoo. There are public cars going by the zoo that also pass Nacional, probably a good idea to take them since it is a very long walk to Nacional. If you walk or take the car, you want to go in the direction that takes you up the hill and into the small town. Not many eating choices in that area . I only passed one small Domincan restaurant that would be mainly good for sandwiches and a Chinese restaurant that se emed primarily for take out. By the food at Nacional was very good and inexpensive.
I got the impression from an earlier post that the Botanical Garden was very close to the zoo. Actually it is, but the entrance to the Garden is too far to walk, even for me who walks everyplace.
The Botanical Garden is beautiful, but very large. After having already walked so much, I was not up for making a complete circuit so went just to the orchid place and the Japanese Garden. A train was picking up a zilllion school children from the Japanese Garden when I was leaving and was very happy to be allowed to bum a ride back to the entrance.
The orchids were far from their peak, but the Japanese Garden was beautiful and very well maintained.
The experience of being the train for ride back to the entrance convinced me that this is probably the best way to see the Garden, at least first time. A guide was describing everything we passed via a microphone, so assume this is done on the entire trip through the park. At least at the Japanese Garden, the train was stopped so that the passengers could walk through the park. Because it is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the entrance, many may prefer to get there on the train. I know I was very happy not to have to walk back to the entrance.
At the zoo, I paid RD$100 to get into the zoo and RD$30 to get into the childrens zoo. At the Garden, because I have a cedula, I paid the RD$50 resident price. The sign said the foreigners are charged US$5. To get into the orchid place, I paid RD$30.
Seemed to be plenty of groundsmen and attendants at Garden, also.
To go from Nacional to the Botanical Garden, and from the Botanical Garden back to the city, I rode in the taxi of Leonardo. His cell phone is 809 457 4478. I can recommend him. If you want to go from the Zoo to the Botanical Garden, I would suggest calling him, likewise if you want to get back to the city from the Zoo or the Botanical Garden. Both the entrance and exit to the zoo and the botanical garden are off the beaten path as far as taxis are concerned, so it is good to have a number in your wallet that you can call if you dont have your own car.
