Turkish Journey: First Gaziantep Picnic

Several of my students from last term had suggested that we get together on a Sunday afternoon. I had expected that we'd go somewhere, drink tea, and chat. However, when they came to pick me up, they informed me that we were going to the zoo and then for a picnic. I had been to the zoo a couple of months earlier. It had been a pleasant afternoon but cold and a bit blustery. This time is was sunny and pleasant. All of the animals were out, enjoying the day. When we got to the camels we found a zookeeper who was quite chatty. He got them to come over to the fence by whistling. A bit later he went and got hay to feed them. There was another zoo employee with a walkie-talkie who was full of all sorts of information. He actually accompanied us to a few more exhibits.

As you can see above, the peacocks were strutting their stuff. ALL of them had their tails fanned and were trying to get the attention of a seemingly bored group of females. The zoo also has two white peacocks (you can see them behind the fanned tail of the bird in the photo), and they, too, eventually got into the action. It was quite an impressive sight.

The Gaziantep zoo is relatively new: 6-7 years old. It's the largest acreage-wise in Turkey and appears to be well maintained. They are just opening an elephant house and are already redoing the raptor area. When Ted and I visited in February, we saw the owls and hawks. Now that area is closed and is being redone. Hopefully the raptors will soon have a nice new home.

The area around the zoo is all pine forest. There are a lot of reforestation projects in the area, and they seem to plant only -- or that's how it looks to me -- this type of sort of bushy pine. All around the zoo there are picnic tables scattered throughout these woods. We drove around until we found a suitable spot and then the students went to work.