Spring was fast, I even did not feel it. The first days of April had been rainy and cold. Sakuras came earlier than expected. And then suddenly, the weather became a bit hot as if summer is already starting.
Lucky for me and my husband because we were able to somehow enjoy the cool breeze of spring even for a short moment. We were clueless of how we were going to celebrate our third year anniversary at that time. And since we just had a busy week before that, we have decided to go somewhere more relaxing and less crowded. We chose to go to Tama Zoological Park – not so far yet outside central Tokyo. From Nishi-Kasai Station we headed to Nakano via Tozai Line and then change to Chuo Line going to Tachikawa Station. From there, we took the Tama Monorail to Tama Dobutsu Koen station. The whole trip was more or less an hour and a half.
As we enter the zoo, we were greeted by big carp kites or koinobori in celebration of the Children’s Festival on May 5th. The whole park is around 52 hectares divided into different ecological areas: the Asiatic Garden, Australian Garden, African Garden, and the Insectarium. It is amazing to see the huge and naturalistic cages of the animals giving them enough space to move around. We were even able to walk inside the aviary to admire the birds more closely. Some of the unique features of the zoo include the Mole House where visitors try to search the moles walking or running through the tunnels; the Malayan Tapir; the Orangutan Skywalk where the orangutans cross 150-meter wire ropes to go from one end of the zoo to another end; Koala House; the Lion Bus where visitors can come near the lions and feed them; and a walk-in butterfly house.
