Lovely time in Pafos Zoo

Pafos Zoo is a very nice place to spend a lovely time, with or without kids. It has beautiful trees and flowers, lots of different animals, a real bird show and it houses 3 popular museums! Worth a visit.

I love to go to zoos in different countries, as they usually tell a lot about the national culture. Pafos Zoo in Cyprus tells us that they deeply care about nature, animals and cultural traditions. This Zoo finds a way to bring animals close to human beings while still very thoughtful about animal welfare. Although the day I visited was a very hot day, Pafos Zoo is made in a way that it made the heat more bearable.

Animals vary from snakes and the amazing frog you see on top, rhinoceros, austriches or lions, they are all there. One of Pafos Zoo’s specialties are birds. Many species from all over the world, in all colours, like these 2 birds from China. Photographing was difficult because of the wire but in reality you see them very clearly, better than on the photos.

I was thrilled by the bird show, where they show many birds very close to the public, most birds only shortly and with strict instructions to the public. Lots of educational stuff in this show too, all presentations in English. The owls were particularly amazing!

The three museums are small and very interesting. Just the right size and amount of object to keep zoo-visitors interested and informed. Going there along the paths is a joy as everything is so well taken care of.

Indirectly these museums tell about the moving history of Cyprus, for example pottery in the Traditional Art Museum. You’d think, ah, they show some pottery of the (near) past. But the dates matter.
Here is a collection of Canakkale (Tsanak Kale) pottery until 1922. Canakkale is in actual Turkey, on the coast, where terrible fighting took place in WO1. After 1922, Greek communities in Turkey and Turkish communities in Greece were ‘exchanged’ in an attempt to create mono-ethnic countries and end ethnic fighting. So that’s where the Greek pottery of Canakkale stopped….
There is also a collection of Lapta (Lapithos) pottery until 1974. Lapta lies on the northern, now Turkisch-Cypriot side of the island. The Turkish army took over on that side in 1974 and the Greek Cypriots fled to the southern, now Greek-Cypriot side. So that’s where the Greek pottery of Lapta stopped…
The tragedy can be reconstructed by the attentive visitor only, as there is no explanation in words. A moving history full of loss.

In the Clothing Museum they show the different wedding clothes of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. of urban Cypriots and Village Cypriots. These are clothes from an island where differences existed since many centuries. It was not ‘peace on earth’ all the time but they did not need a wall to keep ethnic groups away from each other. Also quite moving!

So you understand, I highly recommend a visit to Pafos Zoo. It is a bit off-site, way out of town so a car would help. There is a bus leaving from Pafos center but I didn’t test it. It’s worth the trip as you can easily spend some hours there – they even have a nice restaurant. The fact that it is off-site gives the Zoo and animals and nature space – the air is pure and the atmosphere is lovely!

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