Puerto Vallarta is located in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

The Puerto Vallarta zoo was a dream come true. Being able to feed animals and actually pet them warmed my heart. I went to Puerto Vallarta via a cruise ship and the zoo is about 45 minutes from the port (~$10 Uber). The last thing I want to do is contribute to a zoo whose sole purpose is to profit from their animals and a zoo that doesn’t care about their animals’ well being. Information was provided at the zoo explaining the felines that they had rescued and this zoo operates from donations. From everything that I saw and could research, the zoo’s conditions were phenomenal and gave animals plenty of space. Click here for the information about The Puerto Vallarta Zoo from their website.

I was able to speak with some of the staff members about the zoo and they were very informative of how well they take care of the animals. I even saw one of the zookeepers playing with their ostrich. My ticket included a drink, a bag of food, and a souvenir. After I got the food, I started the zoo’s trail. One area had a lion and tiger and in a separated area, there was a young cub. The description near the cage said that the lion and tiger had never been separated since birth.

With this one-on-one experience with animals, you could really see their personalities shine. I wasn’t able to pet the adult (or teenage) lions. This cub had me cracking up. I could tell it wanted to play!

I was feeding this hippo all of my carrots. He kept his mouth open to let me know he wanted more, more, more. Once I stopped giving him carrots, he walked away to go back to his sleeping area. When he saw that had another carrot to give him, he got back in the water.

The entire zoo is a big circle. About midway through the zoo, you will see the giraffe and a restaurant they have at the zoo.

    Across this small pond where all the ducks are, are monkeys. What impressed me about this part is the monkeys weren’t chained up. They were able to roam around their area. I had been to zoos like the San Diego Zoo and I have never seen monkeys completely free to roam.

    These animals had such strong personalities which you can tell from these clips. This is a video of a Zebra gesturing to have the treat thrown down.

    Pictured: leopard, flamingos, monkeys, rabbits, crocodile

    I was beyond in love having a cub interaction at the zoo. I got to know first hand how strong these tiny cubs were. One of the cubs even scratched through my tights.

    This zoo was a dream come true. I can’t wait to visit again. I loved every minute. I was so sad to leave. This is my heaven.

    Visit The Puerto Vallarta Zoo on TripAdvisor and see what others are saying about their experience. Prior to going to this zoo, I was very hesitant because of the negative reviews saying the animals were not under good care and the animals looked sad. I’m not an animal expert, I am just speaking from my own experience – this zoo was very well kept from what I could see. Animals had plenty of space and looked happy here. For more clips on this zoo, see my Jalisco highlight on Instagram @whenyoureheree.