Temaikèn Biopark

We took a family trip to Buenos Aires last week to visit the biopark Temaikèn. I am not entirely sure what makes a biopark different than a zoo, but they seem to have taken great care to make sure you don’t think of it as a zoo. However it functions, it looks like just a fancy zoo.

Welcome to TemaikènOn Tuesdays they have 1/2 price entrance which cut the cost from $16 to $8 per adult. Since the park is a couple of hours away from our house, we decided to combine our trip to the park with a trip we already planned to Buenos Aires. We spent the Monday after Easter with some missionary friends and then went from their house to a hotel in BA. The hotel was very nice and we enjoyed our stay. But, we had to be up early to make it to the park when they opened at 10:00.

Even though the park was only one subway and one bus ride away, the bus took over an hour to get there. We enjoyed the subway ride out of town during rush hour when all the morning traffic was going into town. It was fun to watch all the people crammed into the trains going the other direction. Then we only had to wait a few minutes to get the bus to the park.

The park is very clean. That is the thing that I think I was most impressed with. Everything seemed to be in good condition. I told someone it was like Disney ran the place. It is not quite that manicured, but almost.

Large Flying FoxThey had many of the normal animals you would see in any other zoo, but they seemed to be missing several important ones. There were no lions, giraffes or bears. They had large flying foxes (a type of bat) that were gigantic! They have wing spans up to 6′. We were able to go into the cage with them. It took a few minutes to convince our daughter to go in, but she eventually did. They were mostly asleep.

There were plenty of play grounds to distract our daughter. One of them was compelling enough that I got in on the fun too. I think we may have had more fun at the playground than the rest of the park.

One of the things that really set this park apart from many other zoos is that there were so many cages that we could go in with the different birds. One whole section of the park was huge bird cages. You wouldn’t know you were inside a cage if you didn’t specifically look at the cage above you. Then you would leave one caged area right into another. So they were able to keep the various birds separate from one another, but we did not have to exit the cage and enter the next. Going out of one put you right into the next one. We could get really close to some of the birds.

Bengal TigerThey had a beautiful white bengal tiger that we enjoyed watching. It was as if he understood that people were watching him and he put on a show for us. There was a moat that he could swim in right up to the glass where the people were. He jumped in and played with the water before swimming over to the people. He didn’t run around and do backflips or anything special like that, but just seeing a large cat walk around is impressive.

The trip back to BA took another hour. Then we had to ride two subways to get back to the next bus. The first subway was going into town during rush hour when most people wanted to go out. We got to experience the same joy as in the morning where we were on a subway train with few people while the train going the other direction was jam packed. But on our next train we got to experience the sardine can. I have been on packed subway trains before, but this was the worst I have ever experienced. There was no need to hang on to anything, it would have been impossible for anyone to fall. We got on and at every stop moved a little closer to the opposite side of the car. Or, I should say we got shoved to the opposite side of the car. Without our knowing it, the stop we needed to get off at opened up to the “inside” of the tracks. That meant that when the doors opened we didn’t have to fight the crowd to get out. We just had to make sure we did not get trampled when other people got off with us.

The rest of the trip home was less eventful. We enjoyed a little nap on our final bus to the house.

If you are in Buenos Aires and are looking for a great place to spend the day with the family, I can highly recommend Temaikèn.

A Bicycle Tire Miracle?

I had to change a bicycle tube last week because I got a piece of glass in it. After patching it, I unknowingly pinched the tube and tore a big gash in it. I could not patch it because of the size and position of the pinch. Fortunately I had an older tube that is the wrong size, but was still in good condition. It worked for a few days, but then started loosing air. It was not a fast leak, but would be flat overnight. I decided to get another tube of the right size instead of trying to patch it.

A couple of days ago I stopped into the bike shop around the corner from our house and bought a tube. I did not get a chance to install it until yesterday. I asked for a 26″ tube, but they gave me a 28″ one. Frustrating, but no big deal. I had my son take the tube back to the bike shop to exchange it. He came home again with a different tube, but it too was 28″.

I have had an up and down relationship with this bike shop. While they are convenient and have fair prices, they tend to do these types of things. They have no attention to detail. My 86-year-old bicycle friend, Victor, has great respect for the man who started that bike shop. But now the shop is run by the man’s son and Victor has trouble finding anything nice to say about the shop. I would go to Victor to get my supplies, but he never lets me pay for anything. I feel like I am robbing from a good friend if I get parts from him.

So I sent my son back to the shop with the second wrong tube and asked him to exchange it again. He came back with a 26″ tube. Great! Almost. It was now the wrong diameter. It was time for me to go to the shop and get the right size.

Turns out they didn’t have the size tube I wanted. Wouldn’t have one for a couple of days. But they didn’t think that telling my son that information was important. I need my bike most over the weekend. Waiting until Monday was not something I could do. I asked them for my money back. He gave me most of it. I wasn’t willing to lose my temper and testimony over $1, so I let him keep that. I went to another bike shop near the house. They only sell high-end racing bike parts and did not have a tube that would fit my bike.

So I went back home and put my bike together with a tube that did not fit right. This is the tube that would lose air overnight.

By the way, for you bike geeks, I also rebuilt my rear hub with new cones and bearings while I was at it.

Last night when I went to bed the tire was still holding air. This morning it was still well inflated. This evening it was still holding air. Is this a bike tire miracle?

Though I have been tempted to abandon the local bike shop many times, I think this was the last straw. They just don’t seem to care about the customer. They only want to sell parts. If a shop doesn’t care about me, then I have trouble caring about them.

In contrast, the hardware store near the bike shop has all my respect and business. One time I was in there and they didn’t have enough change for me. They told me I could pay them the next time I was in, even if it took a few days. A couple of weeks ago I sent my son to buy some nuts, bolts and washers. Because I only needed 5 of each, they gave them to my son for free. While I can easily pay $3 for the hardware I need, they are a business that understands $3 is a small price to pay to have a loyal and faithful customer.

The next closest place I know about to buy tires, tubes and parts for my bike is about 3 miles away. Even though they are further away, I have always gotten exactly what I asked for. I guess they will get more of my business in the future.

Daddy Can Visit

Picture of 3 kittensTonight we walked by a lady’s house who has 18 cats. Our 7-year-old daughter said that she wants cats when she grows up. My wife, who is allergic to cats, told our daughter that she could have all the cats she wanted when she got older.

I said, “But remember, Mommy is allergic to cats. If you have a bunch of cats that means Mommy can’t come and visit you at your house.”

Without even thinking about it she said, “That’s OK. Daddy can come and visit.”

Bicycle Touring Scholarship

Cover for Bicycle Touring: The Movie

Darren over at Bicycle Touring Pro has a scholarship in which he helps young bike tourists get started with their dreams of bike travel. He does this with cash gifts as well as equipment donations. This month he is donating 100% of the profits he makes from his bike touring related ebooks to the scholarship. This offer good from now until April 24th. On the 25th he is planning to distribute the money to the applicants that get accepted to the program.

Therefore, if you were considering buying one of Darren’s books, The Bicycle Traveler’s Blueprint, The Essential Guide to Touring Bicycles or The Ultimate Guide to Free Lodging, now is the time to do it. He also has a video he has put out which contains much of the same information.

As someone who is interested in bike travel myself, I am excited to help Darren promote his books. Especially since I know the profits will help new bike travelers. I am more than twice as old as some of his applicants, therefore I don’t qualify for the program. But I can help out those who do qualify.

Mixing Business With Pleasure

This morning I started the day by getting up a few minutes late. I rarely sleep past 7:30 without an alarm, but today I managed to stay in bed till my wife kicked me and told me it was 8:00. Even though it is Saturday, I had a busy morning planned. After a quick shower I headed out the door to distribute church tracts at my neighbors’ houses. Then back home for a quick breakfast.

I have a sign language class on Saturday morning that I attend. That is about a 4 mile bike ride from home. Going to class was the end of my “normal” Saturday.

Today the men at church had a picnic planned at one of the member’s house. We do this once a month or so, but this was the first time that it was complicated by me having to go to class before the picnic. Because of class I would miss the bus which took everyone else to the picnic. I decided that I would ride my bike several miles away from town into the country to the picnic area. It was about a 10 mile bike ride from my class to where the men were. Most of the ride was in pretty heavy traffic, which is what I am used to.

We had a good time at the picnic. As typical, the vast majority of the men played soccer for a few hours and shoved food in their mouths when not playing. Someone brought a football (a real one) and we tossed it around a bit. One of the men talked about how football was a sissy sport. Another missionary commenced to taking on anyone who dared to try to tackle him American Football style. No one came close to getting him on the ground, though they all regretted trying.

My bike trip home was much shorter since I could go the back roads to get to my house. However, I didn’t know how primitive these roads would be. The man who lived out there told me that a bike should be able to ride on the road pretty well, but a car shouldn’t try that route.

In the end, almost 5 of the 7 miles were dirt roads. Four of those miles had more horse tracks than car tracks. The road was so little traveled that there was grass growing in the ruts. If I could ride my bike across the country on such quiet peaceful roads, I would give up my car and live with just a bike. Oh, wait. I already have.