Mars the baby hippo

 

So the reason I picked Kansas as my next state and when I did was so I could see Mars the baby pigmy hippo!  If you have not heard of him, google him and see all the posts about him not going inside when he is supposed to.  He is so cute!  So I figured I could see him before he grew up and get a race in at the same time.  

Friday was my day at Tanganyika Wildlife Park. This is a small zoo that has a lot of animal experiences available.  Some cost extra, but many were free.  I did pay extra to get close to the hippos, but other feeding experiences like the rhino and giraffes were included.  Your admission also included meals.  I didn't eat breakfast there, but did eat lunch and snacks.  

The hippos are solitary and the male and female do not come outside at the same time.  I saw them in the morning.  Pluto, the dad, was outside first, and he was the hippo that made a painting for me!

I got to pet Pluto

After we petted Pluto, he went inside and Posie and Mars came out.  We weren't allowed to touch Posie or Mars, but were close to them.  The keepers fed Posie and offered food to Mars, but Mars is still mainly breastfeeding.  He doesn't have the teeth yet to eat things like pumpkins. But Posie really liked the pumpkins!

Posie and Mars

Mars

Posie eating pumpkin

 

Mars did not even leave teeth marks on the pumpkin

Posie took the pumpkin from Mars

Other animal experiences I was able to, well, experience, were feeding a giraffe,

feeding a rhino (you threw the food into their mouth)

feeding penguins, 

feeding a rabbit and a tortoise, 

feeding lemurs (you sit down and the lemurs come to the food in your hand and you are not allowed to pet them)

and birds.  This bird landed on my back unexpectedly!  It was quite the surprise!

I think he wanted more food!

There were some other animals that were neat, but the biggest surprise was the monkey exhibit in the bathroom!  The guys bathroom had a snake...I was glad to have monkeys!

This monkey seemed to be having a fight with another over the baby!  They were grabbing it back and forth.

All in all it was a fun day and the included lunch wasn't bad.  The one thing they did not have, though, were Mars/hippo ornaments.  I was able to get a sticker and didn't want a t-shirt.  But I really wanted an ornament.  Missed opportunity for them!  It was strange because they had panda and lion ornaments, but those animals aren't even at this zoo!

So would I recommend going to Kansas just to see Mars?  Well, I am just glad I had the excuse of running in Kansas in order to see Mars!!