Oakland, CA has a little piece of Africa just off highway 580. If Oakland is closer to where you live, than Africa is, you might as well visit Oakland Zoo to experience a bit of the continent, in the zoo’s ‘African Savanna’ and ‘African Veldt.’
Proud of its African Savannah, Oakland Zoo calls it the focal point of the zoo. This part that is a re-creation of the African grassland, is a haven for animals such as the little Meerkat to the mighty African elephant. It also has within it a few Zebra and Lions. The African Veldt boasts of the Warthog, Giraffe and Eland among others creatures.
Our first stop at this little Africa was where the Warthog was. There we learnt that this grey beast is a herbivorous animal that feeds on grass, herbs and roots. The name boards at this zoo go on to say much more than the common and zoological names of the animals. In it are other tid bits like the animal’s habitat, life span, diet and social behavior.
We then moved on to see the Giraffe. What surprised me was that there were more than just one or two Giraffes there and what more: they shared this space with Elands, Gazelles and some geese in a pool of water that is made available there. Just watching how gracefully they all moved and how well they all got along in this flatland area is something I think, I could watch for hours together.
Since we still had more to see, we went to the meticulously created African Village in the zoo. There we found a couple of huts designed to look like houses in an African village. One of these houses has been transformed into cafe (African Savanna Cafe). The other, apart from looking like an house in the village, also serves as a model of the interior of a home in the African Savanna. The house with the thatched roof has a goat area, sleeping spaces and a store room. Also exhibited were utensils used in these households; leaving me like I had a first hand experience of a house in the African grasslands. Now if only there were real people in there too. However there was a statue to make do with.
On the way to the African village and back we saw the Meerkat, several birds and a few other animals that belonged to the African wilderness.
We then walked up the hill to a quiet but huge enclosure labelled the Mahali Pa Tembo or the Place of the elephant. The African elephant are sometimes the first animal that comes to mind when you think of an African Safari and there they were doing their own thing. There were three elephants in sight and this space also had some huge rocks allowing the elephants to be camouflaged in the dusty surrounding. There were some big toys put in there for the big animals — a few rubber tyres.
Our next big stop was where the African Lions were. Oakland zoo proudly owns a pair of lion and lioness. When we went to have a look at them, the royal duo was behind some tall grasses soaking up the January sun. The board beside these big cats said they were generally found in Southern Sahara to South Africa excluding the Congo rain forest belt. Now aren’t we lucky to have the majestic couple at the Oakland zoo?
Then there are the camels and the Hyenas and all. However, these animals do not complete the African experience. Just before we left the zoo we walked into the gift shop and what should we see there: African crafts… and some African music playing in there. Little Africa, indeed!
[…] first time saw a Meerkat was when I visited the Oakland Zoo. (Read Oakland’s Little Africa ) These small animals that can stand on their hind legs for a long time look like curious and […]