Barbados-style zoo

Isaiah has been looking forward to visiting the Wild Animal Reserve for months. We've had it on our to-do list, and with Mimi and Pa here, we decided to go for it. There honestly haven't been too many things (stores, events, facilities, etc.) that have exceeded my expectations on this little island, but this one did! It is kind of like a cage-less zoo full of native animals. The facility itself is built really well, with interesting little paths, rod-iron decorative doors, and stone walls. There are huge trees and little stone paths to explore. There were probably 100 monkeys and at least as many tortoises roaming around. It was really fun and a little creepy to have that many monkeys wandering so close to you. There were also deer, birds, and peacocks. There were a few caged animals, too - lizards, snakes, and a few birds.

Maybe the most exciting moment of the day happened within the first 30 seconds of arriving at the park. We got out of the cars with bags, stroller, hats, etc. I was struggling to hold everything and Mimi asked what she could hold. I handed her a banana.

Before we knew it, we had little visitors all around us. As we looked up, we saw green monkeys staring at us, gathered around the car, jumping on top of the car, intent on welcoming us to their corner of the island. This one was particularly interested in Mimi. Here he began his pursuit -
He moved down across the car...
... before leaping through the air right onto an unsuspecting Mimi. She squealed and we realized that our little monkey friend had ripped the un-pealed banana right in half out of her hand! She threw the other half into the little monkey herd, and we all stood in amazement of how quickly it all happened and thankful that the monkey wasn't actually attacking her! It took her a while to wipe this curled lip off her face -


And she's still having visions of this little face flying towards her - They were hoping for more bananas, but we decided we don't especially like hand feeding this little critters.
Exploring -

Noelle was thrilled with the monkeys all around her! She makes a pretty cute little monkey noise.
We were so excited to spot the first tortoise - we had no idea there were so many more roaming around.
Luke saw this picture and said I look like a Malibu mom in the jungle. That's pretty much what I feel like.
Gorgeous peacock -
Both kiddos loved petting the tortoises. Those little guys couldn't get away from their curious hands very quickly. Perfect for a 3 and 1 year old!
Another unique adventure in Barbados!