I had an awesome trip to Guangzhou and I want to share the best part of it!
The best part about my trip to Guangzhou was visiting the Chimelong Safari park there. We entered the park at noon. That’s when we saw a lot of people rushing around with their children, trying to get to the next stop and look at the tigers. The park was pretty chaotic then, with people crowding around and pouring like floods over the streets in the zoo. My family (especially my younger sister) was interested in taking the cable car (where you can see the whole view of the zoo and don’t need to crowd with other tourists), but the line was too long (you literally need to line up for 3 hours to get in the cable car) so we ended up deciding to walk.
Luckily, we saw a lot of different animals that are rarely seen in other safari parks. It’s worth mentioning that we saw Komodo dragons. Although they’re only wandering around in their cages (it’s not allowed for them to come out because they have poisonous saliva and once you are attacked you might just be dead in a few hours), it’s cool to see them. One thing about them is that they stick out their tongues when they move around. This is mostly because they use their tongues to detect dangers and search for food.
Another cool animal is the sloth. Every time you think of a sloth, you think of Flash from Zootopia. In Chimelong Safari Park, tourists are allowed to pat and feed them (there is only one for Human-Sloth interaction because the other ones are too fierce. Moreover, you need to pay 50 RMB for that.) I used to think that sloths have soft fur, but actually their fur is pretty rough (but they’re cute). Although you need to pay for patting them, it’s worth it (believe me! It’s a once in a lifetime chance and you won’t want to miss it).
Besides of sloths and Komodo dragons, we also saw animals like pelicans and meerkats. Some of the animals are offered tourist interaction service, but most are not (interacting with animals like hippos or lions are dangerous, well also weird). There are less tourists in the afternoon looking at the animals, yet the performance areas are still crowded.
Our trip ended with my family having a good time at Chimelong Safari Park. For ones who are interested in taking a trip to the park, here are some advises:
1. Half of the tourists in the park are those staying in Chimelong hotel. They tend to enter the park in the morning and leave at noon. If you have plenty of time and want a better experience, entering the park in the afternoon is the perfect choice.
2. There are performances in the park. The performances will be held at specific times, not all day long. They are mostly facing the children, so if you are coming with your kids or young siblings you might want to watch the performance. (P.S. during holidays, the performance areas will be very crowded.)
Hope this blog is helpful for planning your trip to Chimelong Safari Park!!!