Doha Zoo Field Trip with Gabrielle's First Grade Class - March 17th

Gabrielle will be a full 7 years old on Cinco de Mayo this year, and we are a bit ashamed to admit that it was here in Doha, Qatar that she had her FIRST TRIP TO THE ZOO - EVER! When her school sent home the note announcing the trip and requesting parent volunteers, Gabrielle was beside herself with excitement. Neither one of us would have missed it for the world! After a quick group picture with her closest of friends, we were off. The first LIVE animal Gabrielle saw was a GIRAFFE! "It's real, Mom! A giraffe!! A giraffe!" (Real discreet, right?) Then, we were off to zebras and several others. Hungry anyone? Gabrielle was very intrigued by the fact that a lot of these animals mostly ate green "grass". (See picture below where she was willing to give it a try for herself - not really!)

We had heard many stories about how interesting the Doha Zoo here is. Some people were said to have loved it because of the types of animals you are able to see there, different from those in the zoo's back in the States. Others from the opposite end say it is extremely sad to visit it and see the horrible conditions these animals shelter's are in. Also, seeing beautiful tigers and jaguars, etc. in captivity can be a lot to handle for some animal lovers. Well, as for the two of us, we seemed to give our sympathy more so to the little mice that were being sacrificed for the sake of the SNAKES at the zoo. You know, in the back of your mind you know that these things have to happen since it is the whole CIRCLE OF LIFE thing, but to actually see it live and in person alongside several FIRST GRADERS was another thing! If only us mothers had been warned about this, we probably would have been more prepared!! LOL~

Nonetheless, I believe the children had a wonderful time at the zoo and are better off for having this experience behind them. None of them seemed to be traumatized one bit - how resilient! Truly, from a kid's perspective, it was a great learning experience as Gabrielle and her class were requested to walk around the zoo with notepads and pencil in hand, identifying the differences amongst all the groups of animals located there. A GOOD PLAN CAN CERTAINLY TAKE YOU FAR. Great idea, Mrs. Shahen! As for me and my fellow parent volunteer, we had so much fun that we came up with a name for our little group of kids: The Fantastic Four! And they were truly fantastic kids! We hope the true adventurousness of our trip comes to life in these pictures; and hope you agree that this trip was well worth it for the two of us as well as worth sharing with you all!

BTW - If you're wondering why there aren't any pictures of camels within this zoo's walls, well, it is simply because they are free to roam pretty much everywhere else OUTSIDE of these walls!!