Y’all, I have COVID.
What I’d really like to do, right now, is go bathing with a bunch of capybaras, in the snow, and also some yuzu, a Japanese citrus.
Lots of zoos now give capybaras hot spring baths, but Spoon & Tomago (a purveyor of Japanese goods and blogger about all things Japan in general) traced the history of this short tradition back to Izu Shabonten Zoo in Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture.
According to the zoo:
The capybara bath celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2017. Today, there are many zoos that have the capybara bath, but the Izu Shaboten Zoo was the first to do it. The capybara hot spring started when the zoo employees noticed that the capybaras would huddle together in an area with warm water. During the colder winter months, the capybaras would go into the water puddles, but then come out in an instant since the water was too cold. The capybaras had no choice but to wait until the water got warmer with the weather.
The employees then decided prepared a bath for them during the colder months. It was wildly popular amongst the capybaras, and since then the zoo prepares a bath for the capybaras in the winter and early spring months.
Capybara’s are the world’s largest rodent, originally from South America, and known for their chill demeanor.
They do not care if something’s on their head.
Source: Prerna Jain via iStock
They do not care if something’s on their back.
Source: Yunia Takase via iStock
They are kind of the the opposite of Sam I Am.
They would eat them in a box. They would eat them with a fox. They would like green eggs and ham, they would like them with some jam.
They are just cool dudes & dudettes.
Source: RicardoKuhl via iStock
Which is why it’s so great that they get to hang out in some hot springs in the winter, and also why I’d love to join them right about now, when a good long soak to clear out my sinuses sounds just about right.
Barring that, I guess I’ll just re-watch this video on making a capybara-inspired cheesecake the Japanese way (favorite instruction: mash the graham cracker crumbs like you’re squashing flies in summer) and wait for this thing to lift, hopefully, like steam lifting off of a hot spring full of capybaras.
Hope you are all well, and have a wanderfull week.
I'm so sorry, I hope you fully recover and soon.
Can't believe you published a WanderFinder when you have COVID. Truly a Wander Woman!