The Zoo-Week 1

Day 1-Tuesday: I was up at 5:30 with a detailed plan on the 45 min walk, followed by which buses I would take and which metro stop I had to get off at. Conveniently the bus didn't show up so by 7:20, exasperated, I got a taxi to the closest metro station and arrived late for the first day of work. It was a bit of an anti-climactic day, because after dreams of wrestling lions and chasing gorillas I was placed in Children's World, inhabited by rabbits, ferrets and a miniature horse named Hobbit. The work I did for the two weeks was all manual labour, such as sweeping or picking up poo, but I was perfectly happy doing that as I find it to be very fulfilling work. Shattered at the end of the first, this bloody woman who I volunteered with that day wouldn't let me leave and started taking me around in circles looking for someone who was actually at the front gate the whole time. Finally, "Eddy' popped his head around the door, grinning, and gave a very enthusiastic "HEY!". All that was in fact just for a hello.
Day 2: Spent the day at the giant tortoise exhibit with Hafiz, raking damp leaves off sand for 8 hours whilst a bonfire raged. The piles of leaves I constructed gave me great pride, but one tortoise, whom I named Lucifer, kept coming and eating part of them, then lying on them and sometimes defacating on them, thus ruining them. I had a few physical encounters with him, but he was unstoppable. I also found out that I had to pay if I wanted to work with apes, to my great disappointment.
Day 3: Savannah exhibit with my buddy Zaid. It was ridiculously hot, even in the shade, and I got a nice sunburn and heat rash. I was dealing with a pregnant giraffe who charged at me when I entered her pen. After my first escape, we ended up getting along quite well because I was cleaning up her poo and feeding her leaves. I also fed some bulls, walking along a wall whilst balancing large bundles of grass which I would throw down to them, hoping I didn't fall in. Finally we fed some camels, who were very feisty and kept rearing up. I found it very amusing because Zaid (the keeper) got very cross and was shouting "SIT DOWN. SIT DOWN." at one of the bewildered camels.
Day 4: Lions and tigers. I forgot that I was allergic to cats so was sneezing all day but it was still awesome. They were all enormous and super aggressive but amazing to be with. The tigers were actually stalking me, like a cat with a mouse. Yes, that would make me the mouse in this situation. I spent a lot of the time cleaning their night quarters (which were sadly in very bad condition). One lovely and gigantic female without a tail called Ella was trying her best to eat me as I cleaned up the cage next to her, and when she realised this was fruitless she rolled onto her back and showed me with her paws what she would do to me when she caught me. When they were fed it was awe-inspiring. The male tiger was a good head taller than me when he stood up and the alpha lion was even more impressive, roaring away with all his muscles bunched up. I felt his roar go right through me. He also managed to consume 8 kgs of chicken in just over 5 minutes. I noticed in my day with the lions that they are ferociously sexual beings as the male was uncontrollably aroused and constantly mating with one of the females. They are cleverer and more social than tigers but tigers are actually stronger and faster, and can jump 30 feet in one go.
All in all it was a shattering week, in which I lost 2 and a half kilos. We were going out for tea every night which was fun and although not the most comfortable, I was perfectly content sleeping on the floor. One inconvenience was the typical Malaysian replacement of loo paper with a hose. I refused to do this, not because I am closed-minded and didn't want to try something new, but because I genuinely do not believe this method to be effective. Needless to say, I restrained myself all week.