As usual, we couldn't get out the door quite as early as we would've liked to, but we still managed to get through the gate around noon. It was a bit chilly this year, with the temps only in the 50's. For me this was nice, but for my Florida blood relatives, they were bundled up. There were even signs up noting that some animals my be hiding out in their heated buildings, but we ventured on, of course... it was at least nice and sunny - that should bring some of the animals out.And it did! This, by far, was one of the best zoo trips we've ever had. All the animals were so active and some (the monkeys, mainly) we loud, to boot!
We started in the zoo's new Asia exhibit, which was mainly a serenity garden of sorts with a Koi pond and waterfalls. It was peaceful and probably a good place for kids to calm down and watch the fish. I know Kris and Darian was very serene at this point.
From there, we went to Australia where one of our favorite exhibits is located - the Lorikeets!
You get the feed them and it's all about timing... you get there too early, they're not ready to eat. You get there too late, they're full. Well, we got there at the peek time apparent;y because they were hungry. If you had the nectar cup to feed them, you about got attacked! So we were in there for a good half hour before things started winding down and we coerced the kids to leave. This was much tougher than usual since the birds were so interactive today...
We then made out way to the Jaguar exhibit, which, of course, Jacksonville has the premier exhibit in North America. It is pretty awesome - I think their up to 6 or 7 of them now, including a black jaguar, which is a really intense looking animal. With the right light, you can still see his spots! He wasn't out today, unfortunately, but the three jags that were out were very active, even a few roars thrown in. The two females were roaming back and forth and I think they were waiting to be fed... but we didn't stick around to see if that was the case.After the jaguars, we went on the Great Ape Loop, which actually includes an array of moneys, apes, and gorillas. The Great Ape, himself, was in quite a playful mood. He was lazily wanders near the window when he suddenly looked to be charging the window and then pulled back and skimmed it... just enough to cause everyone to jump and get a few shrieks out of the crowd. He knew what he was doing - I swear he had a sly grin on his face afterwards. It was about this time that we started hearing loud shrieking and monkey noises further along the loop, so we followed the noise to the Siamang exhibit, where the two apes were having a good ol' time. You could hear them through most of the zoo, I think! I think this was the highlight of the zoo for the kids this year!
After that, we checked out the giraffes, which were being fed, and took a journey on the Africa Loop. The sun was starting the set and the temperature was definitely dropping. So we figured we'd better head out before the kids started getting cold.
Ahh, but our journey was not over yet. In fact, we ended the day with a BANG! Literally.
Just a couple of miles from the house, with the kids sleeping in the back, my mom got rear-ended while she was at a complete stop at a stop light. That woke the kids up. It turned out not to be as bad as it felt - the bumper did it's job and took the brunt of the hit. Still sucks, though. But at least it's a cut and dry case for determining fault - the lady who rear-ended us was definitely at fault. Not that it makes is easier to take. But we survived - just came away a little shaken with slightly stiff necks.
No comments:
Post a Comment