Out And About: Jardin Zoologique de Rabat (plus COLA)

Decided to make this my first full Cost of Living Assessment (COLA) as I know lots of people want to get an idea of that as well :)

As part of our robust home schooling program, the girls and I took a trip to the royal zoo in Rabat. It is amazingly only about 5 miles from our house! According to urban legend the zoo was opened to house lions that were originally kept at the royal palace. We got there right after they opened and were probably group 10 to enter the zoo. After paying for parking (10 Moroccan Dirham [MAD]), we got our tickets. I couldn't see an option for a membership so we bought single day tickets with a bonus ticket to their Vivarium which is their reptile house. Amelia is free until she's 4 so our tickets were 130MAD. 

We started with the Vivarium and got to see a lot of cool critters - think snakes, turtles, amphibians and more lizards than we could count. All of the critters are in exhibits that mirror their natural habitats and represent all 6 zones of African ecosystems: Moroccan, Subtropical, Afro-alpine, South-Saharan, Equatorial and Malagasy.

The favorite was probably the dwarf crocodile but the girls also really loved the giant tortoises.

The park its separated into different zones as well. For this first visit, we decided to tour the Atlas Mountains, Desert, and the African Savannah. While there were some smaller animal areas, many were wide open spaces that reminded us of the Safari Park in San Diego - with different specifies mixed together and a variety of habitat features (trees, water, shades, etc.). 

Many of the things we saw were similar to other things we have seen at other zoos - lion, rhino, porcupines, fennec fox and a huge variety of antelope. They had a white lion which was cool but the real show stopper were a group of white porcupines AND we loved their name in French - porc-epic (and I shall call them nothing else forever). 

Mid-way through our loop we paid an extra 15MAD to feed the giraffes (awesome fun) and then stopped for lunch. 

I got a burger and onion rings (that came with fries - oops), 2 lemonades, and 2 kids meals (burgers, fries, waters, ice cream) for 200 MAD. 

Refueled, we saw more animals - lemurs, zebras, storks (the same ones that are all around town), camels, hyenas, and some birds of prey.

The front of the park is beautiful with fountains and thick vegetation that surround the basics such as the information desk, gift shop, a food shop, conference areas, and a small museum. We checked out the museum and were treated with some fossils from the area that represented many of the same animals we saw around the park. The zoo also had a prayer room and I have already been here long enough to not be surprised by that - they are located in rest stops and malls as well for when people are out and need to go to prayers. 

While everything did not look to be at full capacity, I would say one of the biggest differences I noticed is that there were not souvenir stands everywhere. There were a few small kiosks to buy snacks and water and the restaurant we stopped at for lunch but none of these places sold themed tochkees or other items. It was nice to not be constantly bombarded with all the stuff and just focus on the animals. There was also a really nice picnic area in the middle of the park where you could eat at a semi-secluded picnic table and gaze out at the antelope or oryx while they were grazing too.

We decided 4 hours was enough at the park and we'd leave some bits to see with daddy so we headed out. Of course the girls begged to stop at the gift shop (which perhaps thankfully wasn't too well stocked) and I spent anther 100 MAD on a zebra face mask and a small stuffed monkey.  All in all, the adventure cost 455 MAD which is approximately $50.

Pictures have been added to the Morocco: Around Rabat google album. Permissions are required as there are pictures of the girls' faces so let me know if you need access!