Our "sensei" (language teacher) suggested we visit the Tama Zoo on our next day off, so we did. This is the monorail we took from the Tachikawa train station out to the zoo. It was a beautiful ride, being up above the houses and streets below.

The zoo is laid out very nicely; rolling hills and many places to rest and view the animals while maybe having a snack. The zoo also provides a bus service that stops at all major attractions every ten minutes. If you get tired of walking, you can hitch a ride.

These are the red kangaroos from Australia. I guess I had known only one kind of kangaroo. I was impressed by the cleanliness and care for all the animals.

The red pandas from China were my favorites. They are about the size of a large raccoon and have a very long tail. It was interesting to watch how graceful they were in the trees. Their size, and build, would lead you to think they were clumsy; not so!

Watching these lions chase after a crane that had landed nearby, displayed their lethal predator instincts. As I watched, this verse came to mind: I Peter 1:8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

This laughing kookaburra was amazing to watch as he prepared to eat his dinner. (I'd better not go into the details here.)

Thanks, Omura-sensei, for suggesting this outing. We enjoyed being outdoors and marveled at how God created each animal to be so uniquely different and designed for its environment.