Mouuooonkeeeysu!

This was a very odd day today as we set out for the Inuyama Monkey Park. Before we get started though I think it's prudent that we take a stroll back into the trip planning phase of things.

Around December we were looking for things to fill four of the gaps in our trip, so we decided to look for a listing of zoos and aquariums throughout the country. On this list were a lot of the standard type zoos with a few specialty parks mixed in between. One of the specialty parks listed happened to be the Inuyama Monkey Park. Seeing how we both love monkeys it seemed like a sure fire winner, but if only I would have payed more attention to how simplistic their website was I might have taken a second thought.

Deep down we actually ended up liking the park, but there were times when I wasn't quite sure what I had us mixed up in. For starters the park isn't on a main JR train line, but instead is off of a local train line and then includes a rather long walk. Unfortunately I chose the longer way there - probably a three mile walk - up hill. It was beautiful though, winding around a mountain with views of the river and castles. Very helpful natives enjoying the warm weather pointed us in the right direction.

"Gouood Moraning," said a jogger as he passed us heading down the hill. "Springu Jougging," on the way back up. He was a happy man, as most people in the area seemed to be.

He was one of the last happy people we saw for a while. The park was at least 40 years old according to sticker we received about the park's monorail, and was in sad condition. That same sadness seemed to fill all the employees. I would be sad too though if I worked in the heat of the day in a park that had, at best, 40 people visiting it.

It was a barren wasteland, filled with dilapidated rides, and a very scary roller coaster. It wasn't scary though because of it's age, but rather due to the fact that it was jarring, had way too low of head choppers, and cost us 500 yen each.

Looking past the theme park portion of the park and into the zoological portion, things were a lot better. I'm not totally sure yet how I feel about the living conditions of some of the animals, some of which were very small cages with no natural environments.

I'm not an accredited zoologist though, so I can't say that a bunch of metal bars to swing from is any different than a tree. It just didn't seem right. Now when the animals were happy though they seemed to be quite so, especially seeing how we were able to purchase food to throw to them.

Clapping at your, making faces, jumping up and down; they seemed to do anything to get your attention when you had food in your hand. It was really a lot of fun watching how similar God made them to us.

The highlight of the day though is actually a dual highlight. The first part was an area devoted to ring tailed lemurs. Unlike your average American zoo this area allowed you to come face to face with the animals as there were no cages. At one point the zoo keepers threw a bunch of dandelions out causing a large group of lemurs to run across Melissa feet. It was the coolest thing I've ever done at just about anywhere.

The second highlight was a giant grey-back gorilla. When I say "giant" I mean it. Never have I seen a gorilla as large as this one. My best guess is that he was 9 feet long and over 700 lbs. It was amazing to be able to look at him.

With those two great experiences under out belt we decided to head on home - but this time the much shorter way as directed by the park attendants.

To check out todays photos click here