Today was an amazing day, one of the best days ever, and a day to always remember.
It all started yesterday when I came back from the office and thought, why not plan an outing for everyone? It had been a long time since our last trip, and this would give us a break from office work while making the family happy. So, last night, at this same time, we all sat together and made a plan for the outing.
You might be wondering why we didn’t plan this for the weekend. The reason is simple—weekends are crowded, and we prefer to explore places when they are less crowded. So, we took a day off from work and started planning everything peacefully.
For many years, I had been thinking of visiting Elixir Zoo, but I was waiting for the kids to grow up enough to recognize animals. Meanwhile, some of my friends visited with their families on my recommendation and loved it. Now, it was finally my turn. Yes, we decided to visit Elixir Zoo, followed by dinner at a restaurant, which I had to find because I’m the best at it.
I have been following Elixir Zoo for a long time, even before it was open to the public. It is a zoo built inside a school, where many animal species are kept very well. Today, we reached there exactly at 3 PM, which is their opening time. The ticket price was 500 rupees per person, whether adult or child. Initially, I thought it might be expensive, but after the experience, I can say 500 is worth it.
The fun started right from the entrance! The first thing we saw was a large cage full of birds—big and small, colorful, and beautiful. I didn’t know their exact names, but they all looked stunning. The kids were very excited, talking non-stop about the birds. Suddenly, a large duck flew toward us—it felt like it wanted to say something! And when we started walking, it walked along with us. Such a nice experience!
One thing worth mentioning is how clean and well-maintained this place was. Unlike most zoos, where there is a bad smell and dirt everywhere, this zoo was spotless. Another great thing was that we were the only visitors at that time—hahaha! Nobody arrives as early as we did, which was great because we got to explore everything freely.
Next to the zoo, there was a Taxidermy Museum. To be honest, I didn’t even know what Taxidermy meant, so I searched it up and found out that it is the process of preserving animal skins and bones to make them look real. The museum had many preserved animals, and I showed them to the kids. My brother’s daughter was very excited to see a real zebra because she has a zebra toy at home. Even though it was just an artificial one in the museum, she was still happy.
The kids were full of energy, like little rockets—especially mine! It becomes difficult to handle them when they’re too excited, hahaha!
We then moved to the first animal section, where we saw different types of deer. Usually, people don’t think much of deer, but they are actually very beautiful animals. We all enjoyed watching them, and the kids kept calling them closer.
Then came the real excitement—the lion’s den! Seeing the king of the jungle behind bars was amazing. The lions looked healthy and well taken care of. The best moment was when one of them roared loudly, and we all got scared for a second—hahaha! There were two lions in separate cages, running around and roaring at each other. At first, we were scared, but then we stood there and watched the whole thing. They wouldn’t stop, and it was very entertaining to watch.
There were also white lions, but they seemed very lazy, just lying down and yawning. The tigers, on the other hand, were active and kept walking around their enclosure.
Next was the zebra enclosure, the most awaited moment for my niece! Seeing them reminded me of Marty from Madagascar, hahaha! There were three zebras, but they were too busy eating. The kids kept watching them for a long time, talking about them excitedly.
After that, we moved on to the monkey section. One of the monkeys was peeking at us curiously, looking completely innocent. But I could tell there was something mischievous behind that innocent face, haha!
Then we saw more animals—goats, sheep, different breeds of deer, and various parrots. The macaws, African greys, and green parrots were huge and colorful.
Next, we visited the horse riding area, but riding is only available on weekends. Still, we went there to meet the horses. The whole setup was very organized, and the horses looked clean and well cared for. By this time, the kids were a little tired, but the sight of horses made them energetic again!
Now came the best part—hand-tamed parrots! While I was on a phone call, I unknowingly stretched out my hand, and suddenly, they placed a big parrot on it! I’m not scared of parrots, but it started chewing my shirt! Its name was Casper, and the trainer had to stop it by saying, "Casper, don’t do that!"
One by one, we all took turns holding the parrots. The kids were a little scared but also very excited to try it. My parents even posed for pictures together, each holding two parrots at the same time—such a sweet moment. My wife also joined in, making sure she didn’t miss the experience.
After so much walking, we took a short break, drank some water, and then moved on to the rides section. There was a pond with beautiful fish, and we spent some time there before heading to the swings and rides.
Near the rides, we saw ostriches, but this was the only area with a bad smell, so we didn’t go too close. We all took turns on the swings—even my parents joined in, which was fun to watch!
Later, we took the kids to more rides and then revisited the lion’s den before heading to the Animal Interaction Show. There weren’t many people there—just around 15-20 visitors.
The Animal Interaction Show was very interesting. The zoo staff introduced different animals and shared educational facts about them, which I believe is very important for kids to learn about nature.
First, they showed us a Guinea Pig and asked everyone to guess what it was. I mistakenly thought it was a rabbit! Nobody got it right, so they explained its details and let people hold it.
Next, they brought lizards. They even let people hold them, but I am scared of lizards, so I skipped that part, haha!
Then came my favorite—the tortoise. When they asked its age, we were all surprised to learn that a tiny tortoise was actually 5 years old! Then they brought a huge tortoise, which was 92 years old—wow! We even got to touch its shell.
Finally, they introduced the most dangerous animal—the python! At first, everyone was scared, but they explained that not all snakes are dangerous or venomous. They also told us that snakes can’t hear and that they sense their environment through vibrations.
Then came a surprise—they gave us a chance to take pictures with the python! At first, I wasn’t interested, but after seeing my kids get their pictures taken, I decided to do it too. Once I saw that the snake wasn’t dangerous, my fear disappeared. Holding it felt weird but also exciting. This was a memorable moment, reminding me of my elder brother’s photo with a lion!
And with that, our Elixir Zoo trip came to an end.
For dinner, we headed to Bar B Q Town Restaurant, which I chose after a lot of searching. I was hoping it would be a good decision. Thankfully, the ambiance, environment, and food quality were all excellent!
We ordered karahi, handi, kababs, and fries for the kids. The food was delicious, and the surprising part was that nothing was left over—we ate everything! Everyone loved it.
Today was truly an unforgettable day. We had so much fun, and to top it off, Pi was launched today—hahaha, hoping for the best!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my post! 😊
All above pictures are taken by me through my cellphone Infinix Hot 40i.