Xoo

That means Zoo. The letter "x" in Mexico is its own monster. I can't figure it out. Sometimes it sounds like an "h," sometimes a "z," sometimes a "sh"..... I don't know.

But that wasn't my point.

We went to a Zoo! (or is it "hoo" or "shoo"?)
We'd seen the sign and heard about Yaguar Xoo (Jaguar Zoo) and had been trying to get out there for some time. Finally, it worked out. We went on Saturday and it was a really good time. The zoo is much nicer than anything we saw in Costa Rica or Ecuador. That ain't saying much...but still. It had giraffes and zebras and lions and tigers and bears...oh my! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

I did have a weird moment when we were standing there watching the camels, zebras, and giraffes eat their hay. I thought to myself, "Ummm....I'm in Mexico peering through a fence made of cactus at African animals eating alfalfa." It somehow struck me as odd.

Brooklyn was our map reader. She really got into it and did a great job, considering we've never, not once, shown her how to follow a map. And those sunglasses....well, she loves them anyway.....

The best part was seeing the girls' reactions to the animals. Madison said "Puppy!" at just about every animal she spotted but Brooklyn really tried to learn the name of each of the animals - some of which she had never known existed before! Our daughter is more familiar with monkeys, snakes and lizards than she is with buffalo, coyote, or grizzly bears. (She had to learn those words!)

This zoo wasn't anything fancy (but a lot nicer than our kids have seen so far, living in Latin America) and there were some pretty sad-looking animals. I hate that about zoos....but we still really enjoyed our time and, once again, marveled at the many cool things offered in and around Oaxaca!

Daddy and his girls. Poor Maddie and that bright sun.

Maddie was such a good sport riding around in that stroller. She probably would have done okay walking, but I wasn't in the mood to chase her around any tiger cages.