One of the first sites we visited in Vigan was Chavit Singson's privately owned Baluarte. The word "Baluarte" translates to fortress. When people speak of Vigan, it is almost always associated with Mr. Singson's Baluarte. The Baluarte is a privately-owned resort with areas open to the public like the mini zoo. They have lions, Bengal tigers, peacocks, ostriches, iguanas, pythos, and other endemic animals.
As you've figured, after the long hours of travel over night, we're probably on the threshold of our energies when we got there. We were a bit cranky and a bit devoid of energy. Nevertheless, it was as good as it got. We got there a few minutes after the place opened and very few tourists are around to crowd the area. The place was, generally, clean and well-kept. Props to Mr. Singson for that and the few staff were all friendly.
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| Baluarte |
The first thing that caught my eye was the ostriches who roam freely across the grounds and cocasionally surprises and catches the tourists off-guard. (I know I was when I saw one
charging walking towards me).
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| An ostrich very calmy walking towards me. |
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I haven't been to many zoos (Wait..Come to think of it, I have never been to any zoo before), but judging from the amount of people voicing out how improperly cared-for our animals are on our zoos, well, with Baluarte, this does not seem to be the case. The animals seem to be healthy and happy. We even got to witness the caretakers feed the sprightly Bengal tigers with chicken.
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| Bengal Tiger |
(I apologize for the crappy shot. Visitors are not allowed to go very near the cage.)
You can also have your picture taken with the macaw parrots and feed them. According to the Vigan tourist site, children are allowed to sit on top of the bigger animals. I am really not used to riding or "siting on top" of animals for fear of injuring and angering them so I settled for taking pictures.
Unfortunately, due to our hunger and fatigue, we were not able to roam around the entire grounds. Such a shame though, since I wanted to visit the butterfly garden.
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