Day at the Zoo

This week I had the privilege of attending my first field trip as an adult. My oldest child is eight years old and I have not been able to go on one field trip until now. I went to the zoo with my first grader. I've been to this zoo a couple of times before (many, many years ago) but I must say, I was quite disappointed with this trip.

I remember seeing in my previous visits a flock of flamingos (my favorite) but there were none this time. The only birds we saw were the ducks, swans, geese, and varieties of parrots. The wild turkeys and peacocks were roaming around the zoo their own.

There were no lions, no koala bears, no polar bears. The tiger was no where to be seen. The "Great Apes" were in hiding. The Cheetah is in such a grassy area we had a very difficult time finding him. My son was excited to see the penguins but that exhibit along with the seals was closed for construction. The elephants and rhinos were there but I felt that the enclosures they are in are much smaller and it seemed more difficult to seem them.

The giraffes were there in the exact same spot as I remember them. As always, they were majestic. I love the giraffes.

Of course, the monkeys were there. The cute Capuchin Monkey just like the one that steals the keys from Ben Stiller in Night At The Museum.

There was also a Howler Monkey that had some serious howling issues that you could hear throughout the whole zoo.

One of the best looking monkeys was the Colobus Monkey. The tail on this monkey is really long and bushy.

We arrived at the zoo at 9:30 am with the plan to meet back at the bus at 12:45 pm. At 11:30 am the kids were done and had seen everything that was available to see.

There just didn't seem to be as much as I remember. Maybe because I am older and things are not as large as they were when I was a kid but the zoo seems to have gotten smaller over the years. There seems to be more food stands, and gift shops and less animals.

The greatest attraction for the kids was the snakes, spiders and crocodiles. We visited that exhibit twice. The second time around the porcupine that was at this exhibit was scratching on the glass wall as if he was trying to escape.

The kids did enjoy the playground that has been installed. They have placed tarps over the toys to keep them cool but it seemed that they forgot to do the same for the benches where parents typically sit to watch the kids play.

I really don't mean to seem negative about my experience, it was fun watching the kids. However, I'm sad to say that I just don't think it would be worth my money to pay for entrance. For a field trip it is sufficient.

What I think however doesn't mean much. The most important thing on this day was that the kids all had fun.