09 February, 2007

A Pleasant Outing

A friend of mine went with her son to visit a large bird park a few weeks ago. They brought along a backpack filled with food and drinks, for they heard the park was located in the middle of nowhere.

All the birds are housed outdoors. That is, other than the tropical birds, who are housed in a “rainforest” atrium. The day is bitter cold. My friends are almost the only guests in the park and soon freezing their toes off. So they take refuge in the warm atrium.

The birds live in the trees and vines in this beautiful tropical landscape. There’re no bars or glass windows separating them from the guests. You just stroll down certain marked lanes winding in and around the trees, ponds, and floral arrangements.

My friend asks one of the female guides for permission for her and her son to use two of the chairs in the entrance area to eat their picnic lunch before heading home. The woman tells my friend the area isn’t heated and not very comfy, and then, before my friend can respond, off the guide goes into the entrance area and comes back with two chairs and places them near one of the ponds.

My friend and son have a delightful picnic in the rainforest. She told me that she felt like Alice in Wonderland.

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