Diego Maradona- beloved soccer player and coach of the World Cup team
El Caminito de La Boca- with a statue of Maradona on top
La Boca!
A lot of the neighborhood
Big picture of La Boca
ZOOLOGICO DE LUJAN
Getting acquainted with the little guy
Little baby lion
Camel!
Baby tiger!
Zoologico de Lujan:
This zoo is unlike any zoo I have heard of or seen before. After a trek to Lujan which is another province of Argentina- about a 1.5/2 hour bus ride outside of the city, we arrived to the Lujan zoo. Walking into this place you would never associate the word zoo with the looks of it. We were given a map which we quickly discovered held no relevance in any direction of the zoo, but all we knew was that we wanted to see some animals. This zoo is different because you get to hold, touch, and be near some of the animals. We found the first cage, which was the cage where you get to hold the baby lion. We were so excited to be able to touch a baby lion, that when it was our turn to enter the cage my roomate and I about died. The zoo lady hands you the baby lion and you get to cradle it in your arms, but no touching the lion's head, as I quickly learned when I was petting his cub's head and got yelled at. The little guy was sleeping the whole time, which could be a sign that he was drugged. Let's just say this zoo is not something that animal rights activists would approve of for the most part. For the baby lion's they say they raise them with puppies to make them more calm, but this lion cub was asleep for a very long time. The next cages where we got to pet animals were the tiger and lion cages. It was pretty cool to be next to animals that we normally associate with as being scary!
La Boca:
La Boca:
My roomate and I had decided that we were going to be very productive, leaving around 11 which is considered early in Argentine time, and go explore the oh so famous barrio of La Boca. We ended up taking a colectivo, feeling proud of ourselves and making ourselves comfortable on the bus because we had left so early. After a few minor speed bumps, such as our bus driver stopping the bus to yell for about 5 minutes at a man who had pulled his car out in front of our bus, Julie and I realized we had been on the bus for over an hour. After about another 30 minutes in the bus, we arrived at La Boca, the famous multi-colored barrio of Argentina. It's a pretty touristy place and people with cameras are seen in abundance, but it still a very traditional and beautiful place. All of the building are different colors and key figures to Argentina's history are made into statues. There is also immense pride for the soccer team that represents the barrio of La Boca, Boca Juniors and Maradona. All around a beautiful place that I'd like to go back to before I leave.
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