Pandas in Macau!

Before heading to Macau's many casinos, we visited a lesser-seen side of the islands. Here, green mountains and lots of space contrast bizarrely with the densest city on Earth.

Chinese gates near the zoo

Here, we visited the Macau Panda Park! Pandas are only native to China, and as such, China is the best place to see and learn about these hilarious and lazy creatures.

the Panda Park

It was a weekday, so it was almost empty, except for a school group that was leaving as we arrived. It was a cool and very quiet afternoon, and the sky was growing a bit dark; it would soon start misting lightly. We hurried to buy tickets for the panda exhibit before it closed at lunchtime.

giant panda in Macau

Now, I've seen pandas before, but they've never been doing anything. They just lay there and don't move all day. But this time was different. This time, the panda was not only moving, but walking around and trying to climb his tree! I think he knew it was almost lunchtime, because he kept walking to the door that his handlers would use. I bet he was getting hungry!

panda climbing

It was so funny! Everyone watching him were delighted with his antics.

where's my lunch??

Afterwards, we had the chance to explore the grounds of what was also a city park (we only had to buy a ticket to see the panda). There were some other cool animals there as well, including some red pandas, a gibbon named "Blackie" who loved to sing when it started raining...

...and some hilarious Borneo snub-nosed monkeys!

a snub-nose monkey

talk to the foot

Macau is so small that you can see everything in just a couple of days. Still, we were definitely able to discover a very much unseen side of the city.

It's more than casinos and old ruins (which I'm definitely in to). Macau surprisingly does have some very green open spaces that feel like going back in time.

Still, though, we couldn't visit Macau without at least paying a visit to a few of the city's iconic casinos. So, after exploring the southern end of the island, we headed back north to the city's most famous skyline.