This last week, Israel transformed into a tourist’s haven. For the Passover week, almost 50 tourist/family/historical attractions opened to the public at no cost. Totally free. Not a dime to enter. It makes a mediocre museum which you would normally shrug off because of a $15 entrance fee all of a sudden seem very interesting when it’s at no cost.

The first stop on the list was a zoo which is also next to a major archaeological site called Bet She’an. It’s my opinion that you can’t go anywhere without going to the local zoo. Thus, the requisite zoo in Israel, “Gan Garoo Zoo“. (Yes, they’re trying to be clever with the name. Can you guess which continent the animals predominantly came from?)

The great thing about this particular zoo is that it’s the only place to see a koala bear in the entire Middle Eastern continent. In fact, the only other places to see a koala bear is in Australia, the U.S. and the Far East. The founder of the zoo said, “They’re the only koalas between Miami and Tokyo”. And even though I’m American, I can honestly say that I’ve never actually seen a live koala before. (I’m not sure a koala would survive a Chicago winter.)

Not to mention, they have kangaroos. Kangaroos people! How could you say no?

Bottom line, I got a picture of my koala. My life is now complete:



(above) I heart you, sleepy k. bear.

But above all, the most impressive thing about this zoo was the lack of barriers between the animals and public. The kangaroo area literally had a rope dividing the animals with the crowd. One long rope between you and a boxing match with the Australian champ.

In the states you’ll find a fence in front of a concrete wall dividing a moat of water before another chain link fence that may or may not be electric.

In Israel you get a rope dividing you from the beasts. It has its pros and cons.

Pro: You’re amazingly close to the animal! Con: You’re amazingly close to the animal. In fact, one of the kangaroos actually did decide to go on a jog into the crowd while I was there. He just hopped right past everyone. His keeper walking calmly behind him until he decided to hop back over the rope again. Strange. Interesting.

(above) In this video, my camera was not zoomed in on the animals. Objects in the mirror are exactly as they appear.

At Bet She’an, I got a taste of the Roman influence in Israel. This particular archaeological site is smaller than one I had previously been to in Israel, but impressive none-the-less.

(above) When in Rome… er… Israel.

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