We went to Zoobic Safari last November 5. Zoobic Safari is a 25-hectare amusement park located in Subic, Zambales. To go there, we took a Victory Liner bus in Monumento (regular bus - P169/pax, P121/pax for senior citizens; airconditioned bus - P202/pax, P162/pax for seniors). Upon arrival at Olongapo, we took a jeepney to the SBMA gate (P8/pax) then a taxi to Zoobic Safari (P350/trip). The taxi fare was costly, yes, but it was a long ride and the taxi was a van-type vehicle so you'll spend less per person if you're going in a big group. As far as I knew, there was no alternative - no buses or jeepneys went to and from Zoobic, just private vehicles and taxis. The system was to get the driver's mobile number then text him around 30mins before the end of your trip. Failure to get the driver's number might result in the commuter having a hard time in going back since there were very few available taxis waiting outside Zoobic Safari.
The driver of our taxi was friendly and chatty, so the taxi ride was leisurely. The scenery was also terrific - lots of greens! For someone born and raised in Manila, breathing fresh air and seeing lots of trees has become a luxury so I really appreciated the time just looking at them.
Upon arrival at Zoobic, we were told to sit near the hall entrance to have our picture taken. I didn't like that part, because with the way the staff ushered us ("let's take a picture first!"), it sounded as if the pictures were included in the tour package and were therefore free, but they were not.
One of the primary reasons why I wanted to go to Zoobic was to have my picture taken while I was petting/feeding a tiger cub. When I saw the tiger in the feeding booth, though, I had a thought bubble: that is not a baby tiger!
The tiger was a little petulant. There was a time when its handler was pulling on its chains to make it get up and approach the bench, but it wasn't responding and was even clinging to a leg of the table. It was probably bored or sleepy or tired of being fed milk by the tourists. There was another tiger nearby. This one was inside a cage, pacing back and forth, back and forth. Truth be told, I felt bad for the tigers because they looked bored. I just hope that all the tigers in Zoobic's Tiger Safari took turns in being the feeding area tiger and the caged tiger.
Since the feeding tiger was a lot bigger than I expected, I had to muster more courage. When I finally had it, we approached
the staff, only to be told to come back because it was already feeding time for the tiger. Well they got no resistance from me, I wasn't interested in being so close to a tiger who was already expecting a fresh meat that minute. I had no plans of being an appetizer.
