I am a zoo person. I love to go to Zoos. So when I went back home to Davao after 10 years of “self-exile”, I made sure to visit The Davao Crocodile Park, which was not in existence yet when I left Davao in 2001 (the park was opened in 2005).
Okay, so the Crocodile Park isn’t really just about our reptile brothers. It also houses birds, primates, snakes and the big cat.
There is also a store that showcases different crocodile leather products like bags and wallets. I saw a hand bag worth PhP 100,000 – which, I’m not saying I can afford that – is measly considering what it took to produce such bag.
Outside the park is a restaurant for meals, and a convenience stores for snacks and kiddie treats.
The crocs are fascinating. They don’t move a lot, do they? They almost seem unreal because if you look at them for minutes, you would hardly catch them moving. Except if food is handed over, normally chicken meat.
I particularly liked the colorful birds at the entrance of the zoo. They were game for photo ops, and were not scary to have a picture with. Imagine a photo with a croc or a tiger? Haha.
It was not as large, but it wasn’t bad. For a crocodile park, it was a bonus to see the other wild animals there.
Transportation isn’t a problem because cabs would take you there anytime (this is out of the usual routes of jeepneys, so that is not an option).
Somewhere in the compound where this park is at, a Butterfly house can also be visited by foot. There’s a zorb ball at the entrance of the compound, which unfortunately wasn’t available on that Holy Tuesday.
It would have been my first “human guinea” experience, strapped inside a huge ball that would roll down the hilly portion of the compound. It would have been..dizzying and insane. =)
If you plan to go to the Crocodile park in Davao, call them first if the Zorb Ball is available that day. It would be best to have your own vehicles, but cabs won’t be too bad, too. When bringing kids, as always, brings loads of cash because kids would love to have their pictures taken with these creatures. And yes, you need to pay for it even if you have your DSLR ready to take those shots.
When dropping by, also plan on visiting the butterfly house nearby, and on conquering vertigo with the Zorb Ball experience.
The entrance is PhP 50.00 for kids and PhP 100.00 for adults.
Here are the links: wikipedia and crocodile park.
