Guatemala is much more than Mayan Ruins, indigenous towns, colonial cities and colorful handcrafts. There are also so fantastic zoos and safaris where you can go with your family for a great learning adventure. These are my favorite ones:

La Aurora National Zoo: This zoo is owned by the Guatemalan government and is also located in Guatemala City. They offer every animal a zoo normally has and is divided into sections, there is the: African, Asian and American sections plus a Farm, a Serpentarioum, Autralian fauna and a nusery for animals. The entrance fee here is $2 dollars for the children and $3 for Adults. In it you can find restaurants, ATM, and a souvenir shop.

Some of the services they offer are: .....

* Special Events (from birthday parties to weddings) .....
* Seminars .....
* Guided tours .....
* Summer camp for kids .....
* Library .....
* Volunteer program

Auto Safari Chapin: This is a car safari located in the southern Department of Escuintla. If you don’t have a car you can rent one of their vans to do the tour. You will literally ride meters away from the animals, you could reach out and pet them but be careful and keep the window closed because they could do the same. The fee for adults is $12 and $11.33 for children $11.33. The Price includes: a car ride along the safari, a walk along their zoo, boat ride, swimming pool and a lunch so big I barely finished it.

Antigua Exotic: This is a small zoo close to Antigua Guatemala where they try to preserve native species. They have reptiles, farm animals and mammals. They offer animal shows where kids can interact with some of the animals, horse rides, a playground, a small climbing wall, a canopy swing and can be rented for birthday parties. My son has had a lot of fun in this place.  Their Phone number is: (502) 5628-9999
 
Mundo Petapa (Irtra) This zoo is located inside of a theme park located in Guatemala City. They also perform the very important task of protecting and breeding endangered species such as jaguars, spider monkeys, macaws, royal peacock and howler monkeys. They also have a great collection of native species of Guatemala: 23 mammal species, 11 reptile species and over 90 bird species. For $13 you get to see this zoo and use the rides, pool and restaurant.

Marina K. Villatoro has been living in Central America (Costa Rica and Guatemala) for over 9 years and her site Travel Experta and Expert Travel for Costa Rica is all about traveling in Central America. Marina loves to help people plan the perfect vacation to this amazing part of the world! Contact me for advice and planning your perfect trip! You can sign up for her RSS feed and join the fun on her facebook fan page and follow her on Twitter at @MarinaVillatoro.

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