We are at Rambukkana to spend the school holidays with my mother-in-law.
On April 15, 2019, I suddenly decided to visit the Pinnawala open zoo(Sri Lanka), which is about three kilometers from the house.
This zoo is the first open zoo in Sri Lanka, and it was opened for public on April 17, 2015. This zoo covers 44 acres, and it is next to the world famous Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. This zoo is becoming one of the finest zoos in the country. The new addition, the open butterfly garden will be a great attraction in the future.
One of my daughters joined the visits as the other two want to spend time with their grandmother.
I wanted to take a few 360 photos and upload them to Google Maps. There was a small crowd compared to other days as the previous day was a Sinhala and Tamil New year.
I parked the vehicle in the park.
#letsguide tip (Thanks @KarenVChin for this)
This park is small, and it could be full in no time during the regular days. Better to come there early in the morning or you can park your vehicle along the main road.
Then I decided to do a street view video from park to ticketing counter. I explained to my daughter what I am doing, and she was happy, and she started to ask about local guides. Then I showed her how to set up a 360 camera and connect to the Street View app for recording. ( @SoniaK , I think this is the advice you gave me during our last call😉)
I saw a buggy cart as I reach the ticket counter, it was not there when we visited the zoo last time. As a Google local guide, something struck my mind. I decided to do a street view inside the zoo using a buggy cart. Then we bought tickets.
Time for the #letsguide tip.
This zoo is open 365 days, and it is open for the public from 8.30am to 6.00 pm. The last ticket sale is at 5.30pm. The ticket prices are as follows.
Local Adult Rs 100/=
Local Children Rs 30/= (3-12 Years)
Local School Children RS 20/=(you should wear school uniform)
Foreign Adult Rs 2500/=
Foreign Children Rs 1250/=
SAARC Visitors
Adult LKR 700/=
Children LKR 350/=
Buggy Cart LKR 1200/=
We got into the vehicle, and we started our ride. This tour is a guided tour, and the cart stops at different locations. I asked the operator whether we can go around the zoo without stopping as I want to do a street view video. He was so generous, and he said first we would do a routine tour, and then he would take a quick tour around the zoo to capture the video. We were delighted.
My daughter was excited to see the animals. We saw different varieties of deer, donkeys, ponies, crocodiles, and then we came to the Wlpattu area of the zoo. There are six leopards there, and they were stunning.
Another #letsguide tip
There are free water fountains inside the zoo and a few toilets too. Please do not throw any plastic bottles; there are designated places to dump them. The best thing is to bring a glass bottle, where you can reuse. @ErmesT I hope you would like this idea.
This zoo is an excellent place to bring your kids and spend the day. In a few years, this will be one of the main tourist attraction in Sri Lanka.
#letsguide tip
You can cover the entire zoo in 2-3hours. Do not forget to see the elephants at the elephant orphanage. There is an old village in front of the zoo and Sri Lankan native food stall.
The contribution to the Street View is still not visible on Google Maps. We covered about 1.5 km.
We had a lovely time, and I hope this way we can educate the next generation of Local Guides on how to contribute to Google Maps and teach them to be responsible and do whatever they can do to protect this world for the future generations.
