Cat Café und Cabybara World

Today we went all out on the tourist experience and visited the local cat café, Cat World, in the morning. At the entrance, we had to sanitize our hands, were given slippers, and asked if we owned any pets ourselves, to prevent the smell from becoming too overwhelming for the cats. Admission costs 350 baht and includes a drink. That was all I needed, since I was so distracted by petting and playing with the animals. It was really fun. 

A big Maine Coon immediately jumped up on the table and took up the entire width. Simon had to quickly move the drinks to safety before they got knocked over. 

One visitor was a real cat whisperer and had most of the cats gathered around him in no time. But for me, the little black cat was more than enough.

Next, we passed a “garden center,” which in Asia, of course, isn’t laid out like in Germany with wide aisles and a clear layout, but consists of low greenhouses and clusters of plant pots with narrow paths in between, where the occasional snake slithers by.

I wanted to get some ideas for what we could plant around our little house.

Since it was already approaching noon, we looked for a nice restaurant, Gaeng Phet, and immediately found another black cat that needed some petting. 

The owner was also very friendly and told us all sorts of things about curry ingredients and explained the four different varieties of basil she grows.

We then continued on to Cabybara World Koh Samui, a sort of Cabybara Café, but with a large enclosure for the animals and a separate area for food and drinks. Of course, one should view this with a critical eye; most of the animals there are generally not native to Thailand.

We got the impression that the Cabybaras were very relaxed and sought contact voluntarily, whether you had food with you or not. The staff also paid close attention to how visitors interacted with the animals, provided information about them, and only allowed small groups into the enclosure at a time.

There were also guinea pigs and rabbits, as well as a few tortoises, two iguanas, ducks, and three meerkats. I can’t really gauge what their stress levels were like. However, the animals had a place to retreat to if needed and all seemed very active.

So we paid the 400 baht admission fee, signed a form confirming we had read the rules of conduct, had our hands sanitized, and were then led into the enclosure. A staff member gave us some information on how to interact with the animals and about the individual animals, and stayed with us for a while to make sure we weren’t disturbing them.

We sat down on a bench to relax, and the animals came over on their own, sniffing curiously and letting us pet them. The meerkats were completely fascinated by my hanging pant legs and played around in them. You shouldn’t lean back too far on the benches, though, because the meerkats have already dug some holes around them, which makes the benches wobble.

I was also really thrilled by the capybaras; their fur feels a bit like a coconut mat, quite rough and fibrous. It was so lovely to watch the animals as they bobbed around in the water or groomed themselves.

To fill out the rest of the day, we walked to the nearby shopping center. The mall has a lovely open layout and was wonderful to stroll through, with a beautiful view of the lake and the mountains.

At the supermarket there, we stocked up on dinner; today we’re having lots of fruit and a rice bowl with four different kinds of fish, as well as a few cream cheese and nut-filled rolls.