The Terrifying Adventure Known as the Prague Zoo

We were supposed to go on a walk to a Chateau. It sounded fine, but we all know most people signed up just to hang out with Z and Jana (our guides) for a couple hours. After a long walk through a beautiful park we found that the Chateau was closed. I was thrilled to see that the zoo was right next door and that's what we would be doing instead. I love zoos. And this one was HUGE - it had polar bears, tigers, and just about every species of turtles. Everyone in the group knows how much I like turtles and every so often someone would yell my name and point to an especially cute turtle they knew I would like.

It was strange being in a foreign zoo - if the plaque didn't have a picture, sometimes I didn't know what I was even looking for. There were lots of animals I'd never seen before, but rather look like hybrids of animals I have seen before (like a weird dog/rat/bear combination.) I also noticed that like most places in Prague, people bring their dogs. I found it ironic that people brought their dogs to the zoo. Is it to tease the captive animals? Or is it like taking high schoolers to a local jail to scare them out of bad behavior?

There was a really cool Indonesian Jungle room: a large building with two sections. One outdoor with monkeys and random small mammals. Then there was the "Twilight Zone." I thought it'd be cool seeing all of the cute little nocturnal animals I would never see otherwise. It happened quickly - I saw a bat out of the corner of my eye. A real bat. Not the little baby ones I saw in the Adirondacks when I was 7 - big, scary, sleep-upside-down bats just flying around us. This was a small room, it's not like they just hung out by the ceiling or corners. They would fly right above you're head.

I'm embarrassed to admit I screamed. Maybe it was more of a yelp, but terrified sounds were definitely coming out of my mouth. I ran. I ducked. I huddled as close to my friends as possible. It actually flew into John, at which time he threw himself on the floor. I had to wait until I was out of there to appreciate the comedy that had just ensued. I was extremely relieved to get out of there, but I did take with me my new fear of bats.