Avilon Zoo, Rodriguez Rizal

My husband has been wanting to visit Avilon Zoo for a long time and finally we were able to find the resources to make this trip possible. We do not have our own car and that is why transportation was the main problem in making this trip possible. Not a single taxi want to make a trip there so we decided to rent a van. We paid 1800 pesos plus 400 for the gas, I guess that's not bad considering that we waited a long time for this.

We drove through Marikina and San Mateo to reach our destination. There wasn't much traffic until we reached Rogriguez, Rizal, the road was too narrow that whenever a jeepney makes a stop all the cars behind it will need to stop. From the welcome sign of Rodriguez you will just go straight until you see a Total Gas Station from there you will need to turn left and from there there will be signs going to the zoo.

(DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to give you a negative impression about the zoo. I am just writing based on my experience with it)

So we finally made it to Avilon Zoo! Wohoo! We paid 400 pesos ($9-$10) each for the entrance. There were some people asking us if we want a personal guide for another 400 pesos but we declined the offer and just went by ourselves. They do not have maps so you have to guess where to start (I do hope that they are working on having a map). We don't know if the animals are on summer break or what but seriously almost 50% of what's inside the zoo is just empty cages. Most of the main attraction animals weren't there like the lion and hippopotamus. It was really disappointing on our part considering (again) our long wait and what we have paid for. Another disappointment was the photo opportunity with the animals weren't available. The reason for this "oh the trainer is absent maam". I honesty do not know if it is like that all year round but I hope that the zoo can let the public know about these circumstances. They can warn the public if there's not much animals in the zoo due to the heat or whatever, when the trainers for the photo opportunity are not available. The zoo have really good advertisements so I cannot see any reason why they cannot put a line or two in their website for this.

Despite what we have experienced we still had a good time. We really enjoyed our time as a family. I have read other blogs whose writers enjoyed Avilon Zoo. What I can say about this is that you'll really never know what a place is like unless you experience it for yourself.