The Neo Park Zoo

Chris and Meghan: Our Saintly Sponsors

We had only been in Okinawa a week. We had already purchased a car, been assigned a home, and had our furniture delivered. Obviously on our second Saturday on the island we should go on a road trip! Our sponsors took us to the north side of the island to visit the Neo Park Zoo. This was the first time they did not have to drive us somewhere (we had a car at this point), but chose to do so anyway.

Chris had heard of a restaurant surrounded by waterfalls, so we set out to eat lunch first. We were in a rather large city, but then we saw a sign for the restaurant that said to turn off the main road. We kept following these signs along the dirt road with arrows pointing us deeper and deeper into the jungle. We finally found the restaurant... with a parking lot of tour buses! We were obviously not that far into the wilderness. We saw staircases winding around many beautiful manmade waterfalls. We climbed multiple staircases dripping with bright flowers to the top of the waterfall only to discover that the restaurant itself was at the base of the hill, so we climbed right back down. The food was great, and I went outside my comfort zone to try papaya kimchi (that was spicy) and some sort of seaweed side (that was salty) along with my ginger pork (that was amazing). 

After lunch we headed to the zoo. This zoo was different because you could feed most of the animals! You bought food at the beginning, and then you wander through different zones full of animals that eat right out of your hand!

I was scared of this guy's beak, and he did get my fingers! Ouch!

The wallabies were so cute!

Two handsome fellows. 

It was a small zoo, but the animals had plenty of room to roam around. The only part I did not like was the dog area. They had what appeared to me to be normal house dogs just tied to posts. That confused me, but overall the animals were well fed and super friendly. We had an amazing time at the zoo-and then ended the day with shaved ice. It is November here, but the days are still hot! At least it isn't too cold for more island exploring!