On safari – Visiting Havana’s Zoos
Photo by Pawan Sharma on Unsplash Havana has not one but TWO zoos! Who knew? One Sunday afternoon, we decided that it was time to find out what they were like. Zoológico de La Habana First stop, the Zoo of Havana, situated opposite the Viazul bus station. After paying our entry fee of 3cup (for local people – about 15 cents) or of $3 (for foreign folks) we were in what seemed like a very traditional zoological garden. Think leafy paths, traditional iron cages for the animals, informative signs. The inmates were pretty typical too: chimpanzees first, then big cats, plenty of monkeys, an assortment of tree-dwelling rodents, lots of zebras, a brown bear and an Australian bird called a cassowary which looked like it wanted to kill us. The Cuban influence was clear from the chimps who had learned to make that ubiquitous kissy mouth sound to get the attention of the crowd, and when ordered to ‘dance’ by their trainer, basically twerked. Flirtatious twerking chimpanzees – only in Cu...