Subic Safari: Literally Walk on the Wild Side at the Zoobic Night Safari

 

When in Manila and wanting to do something different from the usual out-of-town trips, are longing for adventure but don’t want to travel too far, where can you go? Subic, of course!

It was a hot 35ºC summer day; the sun was at its peak and angrily kissing my skin; the car aircon was on max but wasn’t really doing nothing; and the Makati traffic was taunting me; but my mind never faltered for I knew what I’d be seeing by the end of the day: Tigers! 

And sure enough, 4 hours and 138 kilometres later, we finally arrived at the Subic Safari, excited to see what The Zoomanity Group had in store for us.

We arrived just as the sun was going down. Before the actual Subic tour, we were first oriented about the night’s itinerary and reminded to always follow the instructions. After all, we were going to deal with wild animals and getting lost there at night wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for anyone… unless you are Bear Grylls. Always follow your group and your guide.

During the orientation, I roamed around a bit to get a better idea about the Subic Safari and what we might be doing that night. I then stumbled upon the souvenir shop. I was actually expecting very expensive plush toys and souvenirs but was surprised that they were fairly-priced and affordable. So, I took a mental note to go back and get one later if something piqued my interest.

Just beside the main hall was a pen where you can have your picture taken for a fee while holding and feeding a tiger cub. After being mesmerized by the playful cub, it reminded me that they are somewhat still like domesticated cats in the way that they act and play… except, this is just a 3-month-old cub. Still, it was already bigger than your regular house cat, so it was clear that it will still grow up to be a 400-pound predator at some point.

Once the orientation was finished, we were divided into groups. Our first stop was the Bird Walk. 

What? No birds? As much as I wanted to take photos of those beautiful birds, I couldn’t because they were too far away and it was too dark for my camera to handle. So, here are some Oriental small-clawed otters instead, which can be found in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Laos, Bangladesh, Burma and India. Not as colorful but downright cute – that’s for sure! 

It was fun and interesting to see so many animals not usually seen at a local zoo at the Subic safari. Granted, the last time I went to a zoo was more than 20 years ago, but there were no camels then. It was cool that the camel was just chill and allowed us to pet him/her and also was not bothered by the photo opportunity, either. 

After a quick tour of the Bird Walk and the mini-zoo, we were ushered towards the Serpentarium which is one of the many attractions that can be found at this Subic safari.

Inside the Sepentarium was a collection of snakes from pythons and constrictors to poisonous cobras. You could also find some lizards, iguanas and some turtles, too.