Phnom Tamao Zoo

Silke and i had planned a trip to the zoo for the kids whilst she was still in Cambodia but unfortunately the dates ended up clashing and we weren't able to go. So, i said that i would still do the trip when they had the time but sadly she wouldn't be a part of it.

Phalla a friend from work came to help for the day, and Namee (the English teacher from the orphanage) also helped out. We left NACA at about 8am in a big bus, it was a proper school trip and the kids was super excited. I think in total we were nearly 40 people! We stopped at the market on our way out of town and bought a lot of fruit and water to keep the kids going until lunch time.

The drive south to Tamao is about an hour or so and the kids sang the whole way. They get taken on a number of trips by visitors but mostly around Phnom Penh and they don't often get the chance to get out of town. I think the last time they had been to the zoo was about a year ago.

It was a hot day but it didn't seem to put anyone off. We walked around every enclosure and imitated every animal! The zoo is pretty well kept, there are a number of wildlife NGOs that support the upkeep and make sure that the enclosures are nice enough for the animals. The have a lot of monkeys and bears but also have tigers, lions, elephants, snakes and heaps of birds.

We had a massive lunch of rice and chicken and then did some more walking. The boys kept doing the monkey dance in front of the monkeys and copying the sounds that they make - it was pretty funny to watch.

Mid-afternoon we went to a nearby Wat that has 100's of steps to reach it. The kids ran all the way and then each one of them was blessed by the monks at the top.

It was a really fun day, the kids were exhausted but really happy. My biggest regret is really not being able to speak Khmer, it makes it so much harder to work out what's going one. Having Phalla there makes a huge difference of course and she really enjoys being involved.