A little of this, a little of that....

Zoo & Zoombezi Bay...

My cousin Nikki came up for the day and we headed out to the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay. I was excited to go to the zoo to see the new Polar Bear exhibit. It did not disappoint, their $20 million renovation was very nicely done. Plus, they put the new exhibit back in the back of the 'North America' section, which is quite possibly the dullest part of the zoo, so well done on getting some new traffic back in that area. I'm sure the Mexican Wolves' self esteems have skyrocketed with everyone now actually walking back through that area actually pausing to look at them.

Before I get too far, I still have to give props to the Pittsburgh Zoo, which I honestly think has a better Polar Bear exhibit. But still, I think the Columbus Zoo' exhibit is a great addition. Both exhibits have an underwater viewing area and a ground-level viewing area.

It's pretty cool to be directly under them while they're playing, knowing that they're standing on the glass above you (stupid reflections!).

 

 

Little miss Faith...

Little miss Hope...

 

Faith, Nikki, Hope and Darrick...

The gorillas were "active" today... meaning they were at least visible...

I call this next photo 'monkeys watching monkeys'... (ha ha!)...

You can't really see the baby that well, but this is Susie (the mom). Her baby Mary Rose (Rosie) is clinging to her belly. Susie's feet are covering the baby. This is the same baby I saw back in March. The docent said they nurse until ages 4, 5, or 6... whenever they're ready to stop. I guess that's why Susie is so tired. Motherhood is exhausting, no matter what species you are...

We headed out, stopping by to see the penguins...

We went to see Beco, the baby elephant and then left the zoo. We went back to the car, repacked and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Zoombezi Bay.

I hadn't been there since it was Wyandot Lake. I had been wanting to go swimming or get in the water and I even bought a maternity swimsuit (maternity bathing suit top and swimming shorts). I thought Zoombezi Bay rocked. I had so much fun! It's really really nice. And I got to witness a mass exodus of the tidal wave pool due to a potential doody sighting. They had to test the water and then one of the lifeguards had to get in with rubber gloves and a long-handled net. After some close examination of whatever was in the net, they waved everyone back in. We did not re-enter the tidal wave pool and thought it was a good idea to head to another part of the waterpark.

I didn't take my camera around with me at Zoombezi Bay- I put it in a locker with my other stuff, but got this picture as we were leaving (and back in our normal clothes).

Thanks for a fun day Nik! Can't wait to go back!

Columbus Zoo...

I went to the Zoo a few weeks ago on a Friday. The weather was nice, so I wanted to get out in the sun and fresh air, plus I was itching to take pictures of something (not a lot to take pictures of here in Columbus in the winter...).

The Zoo was super crowded. To my dismay, the animals weren't very active and I didn't get very many good shots.

The best part though, was the Bonobos. I watched them for about 45 minutes, because I found out that there was a new baby. I made friends with the docent and learned all about the baby. Her name is Mary Rose, but they call her Rosie and she was born March 1st. The mom of Rosie also has a 17 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. There are two possible fathers of Rosie, and the docent said although they think they know, they are going to do DNA testing to make sure. Some other fun facts...the Bonobos have a gestation period of 8 months. I also asked if they take the mom away when she's having the baby, or let her have the baby out in the open in her "natural" setting. The docent said they watch to see if there's complications and are prepared to help out, but otherwise just allow a handful of other Bonobos to stay with her and she has the baby all on her own.

Some other shots from the day...

I was all excited to get to the aviary, but it wasn't open yet for the year.

 

Can you spot the poser in the next picture?

This group of flamingos was sleeping and I thought it was funny how the three flamingos up front all had their one leg lifted while they were catching some shut-eye...

Looking forward to going back to see the four new manatees and to see Rosie again!

Pittsburgh Zoo...

The Pittsburgh Zoo was fun- we got there early on Sunday morning before it got crowded.  It was a little chilly though, but a beautiful fall day. 

 

 

The Pittsburgh Zoo just added a Polar Bear exhibit and part of the exhibit is under the water.  You can stand in these big tunnels and watch the Polar Bears play in the water overhead.  It's pretty cool...




A great day at the zoo!

Zoofari...

Since Alison lives three hours away, I don't get to see her that often outside of the store manager meetings at the office.  We planned a day to meet in the middle and ended up going to the Cincinnati Zoo last Saturday, June 21st.  This was my first time to the Cincy Zoo.  It seemed a little smellier and a little dirtier than the Columbus Zoo, but overall, it seemed they had more animals (lots of birds though).  After getting through the admission gate (which took about four days), we finally met up and enjoyed about six hours of Zoofari fun (plus some local Cincy treats- Montgomery Inn BBQ sandwiches and LaRosa's pizza).  The worst part was getting lost coming out of the zoo and not being able to find I-75 North.  The neighborhoods around the Zoo were a little... hmmm... scary and I didn't like being lost for the half of an hour it took me to make my way to I-75.

The Wilds...

Jim and I continued our fun weekend after camping and hiking at Hocking Hills by going to The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio on Saturday.  It rained Saturday morning, so we didn't go until Saturday afternoon.  We bought tickets for the open-air Safari ride, which ended up being about two and a half hours.  It was still sprinkling a little when we started, but the rain had gone away and the sun finally came out around 4pm.  The best parts were the giraffes (they had a baby giraffe named Geraldine) and the rhinos. 

Columbus Zoo...

Pictures from Jim and I's recent trip to the Columbus Zoo.  We went on a Sunday morning and by the time we left (around 1:30pm), it was so crowded- we were almost tripping over strollers and wagons.  My favorites were the monkeys/chimps (as always).

 

 

And my favorite wild animal of all...