The Zoo Story, Pt. 2, Feeding the Bears

We head to the zoo, late now, since the meal has become the main event. We pull up to a compound of thatched roofs with tables underneath. A gaggle of teenage kids come around the car at once. They seem to have a bit of urban savvy or cool I would say so I begin to jive with them. I offer one or two the “Obama Muslim Knuckle” handshake, they haven’t learned this one yet, but pick it up quickly. One wears a fedora hat and has a very unique chiseled face, like a sculpture. He almost seems like a character from an anime or something in a human form. They are all holding coconuts and some bananas. One of them speaks excellent English and offers to tour us in the zoo, helping describe or name animals we might not know. I like to help these kids who want to earn a few bucks by working, so we take him on. In doing so, all the other kids follow along as well. It’s a funny stumbling kind of walk for the group, we begin to see monkeys all around, and come to an enclosure with great still crocodiles lying around just beyond the fence.

There is good fun in the forest as Bodhi gets to throw banana chunks to the dexterous monkeys who make great catches and gobble them down. There is a free roaming mule deer, very large, who keeps knocking into us casually. We see a mongoose, a white squirrel and keep hearing from the gang about buying coconuts to feed the bears. Eventually we realize that the bears are in a separate locale, the tour boy rides with us in the car, the coco boys chase on bicycle. There is a real desperation happening now, it is almost closing time and they all want whatever money we can produce for these coconuts. I'm feeling the swarm feeling again but can't believe the scene when we get out of the car at the sun bear enclosure. One boy after another jumps over the first enclosure fence (an outer pen) and begins holding out a coconut and beckoning us to allow them to feed the bear - if we're committing to give them money. "How much?" I ask. 2000 riel, we are told, this is 50 cents. We just don't have a lot of riel with us, not even a lot of single bills. We pay for one, the boy tosses the coconut over the fence and this cartoon bear, with a cozy little face, a broad orange shield shaped spot on his chest and a tongue that must be 24" long, grabs one and drops his tongue into the hole that the boy has slashed with his machete. The next boy begins asking us to buy another coco. I'm scrambling for money to get this over with but can't find enough small bills, Bodhi senses their desparation and says "just give him a dollar". We can't even enjoy the bear feeding, its hot, gray and murky and the mood is completely sour and desparate. We buy a few more cocos, the boys begin just slashing their prices to get a few riel out of us and the 4 or so bears are all already feeding. I realize the boys themselves seem like zoo animals since their inside one fence. Jesus, what a scene.

We spend our last money and get in the car with "Lucky" the tour boy to go see the tigers.