MLI: National Zoo of Mali

Avenue de la Liberte, Bamako, Mali

Daily: 6.30am - 5.30pm

Located to the north of the National Museum and the National Park, National Zoo of Mali is home to over a hundred animal species. After undergoing extensive rehabilitation and expansion for 2 years since June 2011, the zoo opened its doors to the public again since its inauguration for the second time on 20 June 2013.

My BFF and I had to pay CFA 700 (~S$1.65) each to enter the zoo. When I handed a CFA 5,000 (~S$11.60) note to the cashier, she told me that she didn't have any change. I didn't have a smaller denomination either, so she said in French that she'd be able to give me the change after we were done exploring the zoo. I trusted her and went ahead.

We were the first few visitors of the day.

The cashier wrote the amount of change that I was supposed to get.

Serenity was what I felt the moment I stepped into the zoo compound.

I wasn't expecting to see a lotus pond there.

The photos below show the first few animals that we saw. Some of them were eating, while others were napping peacefully.

Munch, munch~

That's a warthog, am I right?

We proceeded to the wooden walkway to see more animals.

Nile crocodile is the second laregest extant reptile after saltwater crocodile.

Having a date?

It certainly felt like we had the whole zoo to ourselves.

I didn't see an oryx in Qatar, but I finally did in Mali.

Drinking lots of water~

Let's move on to the aquarium. There's an unmanned booth in front of the entrance that seems to be selling some clothes and collecting donations. Proceeds go to the welfare of the animals.

Did you know that catfish is a delicacy in Central Europe and Indonesia?

Such humpy fish!

That fish became rather violent when I stared at it.

How many of those fish can you count in this picture?

We proceeded to the next building that houses a number of reptiles, which are mostly snakes.

So long and meaty!

Even though it's not a particularly aggressive snake, West African green mamba is highly venomous.

I chuckled when I saw the snake shown in the two photos below.

We also saw some salamanders and tortoises.

There's an open-air café and a playground for children at the zoo.

Do you love to play swings? I very much do.

We climbed the flight of stairs to reach the last area that we hadn't visited.

That vulture looks pretty menacing.

On the other hand, that hyena looks gentle.

We were suprised to see two meek donkeys outside of their cages. I wanted to touch them, but I didn't do it.

There are some of our closest relatives too.

Were they in a deep thought?

"I'm a superstar!"

Have you ridden a donkey or a horse before?

Eat more and grow well, you guys!

As we made our way back to the ticket counter, we noticed that the buffalo that was sleeping earlier had awakened.

At the end the visit, I got the CFA 3,600 (~S$8.35) change. There's a small souvenir shop that you need to go through before exiting the zoo.