Trip to the Phoenix Zoo

One of my favorite places to visit is the zoo. I really like to visit zoo's in other cities when we travel. The best so far was the San Diego zoo but I also like the Phoenix Zoo. They have done a wonderful job blending in the habitats so you don't see to much cage.

For example, I am standing right next to this sleeping bear. I did not use the zoom, I really could reach out and pet it. The only thing separating me and the bear was some bamboo. At first I thought it was real but it was actually steal bars painted to look like bamboo. Very cool

However, in other habitats, where the animal would escape if there isn't a cage, I was happy to know they fully caged them in. Like this jaguar.

At this zoo there are some randomly placed items that have nothing to do with the zoo but make you feel like you are in whatever part of the world the animals are from. It really adds to the experience if your surroundings are the replication of a jungle when you are seeing animals who live in the jungle.

One of these places is set up as if explorers had been living there. Heidi found this butterfly in one a drawer and took a picture.

A dream for me would be to visit the Galapagos Islands and see a Galapagos Tortuous in the wild. Until that happens, the one at the zoo will have to do. We don’t have these at the Como Zoo in St. Paul because it’s way to cold here most of the year.

I love this picture because it reminds me of what I was thinking when we approached this habitat. I thought, Oh, that's a nice little dessert area. I wonder if anything is supposed to live in it...
Well, something does live in there. It's the Rhinoceros Iguana. Do you see it? It's huge and has a horn on its head. It's on the log in the middle of the picture.

Of course we have to spend time with the Orangutans!! They spent a lot of time swinging around and having a great time. It was fun to watch but there were a lot of people watching and it was crowded.

This lion is another example of how close you really are to the animals.

We walked up to the lion from a side path. The male lion was standing on top of a hill watching us approach.

Shawn says “I think that Lion is staring me down.” And I said “sure looks like it!” We kept walking towards the lion when Shawn stepped to the side a little and the lion broke its gaze.

Turns out it was staring him down or sizing him up for that matter! It was crazy! I guess the lion thought that we were sneaking up on him.

It was not scary because we know that the lion is in a cage and cannot get out. But remember how I was saying that sometime it looks like they are not in cages? This was one of those times. And after I told the story a few times Heidi told me she did not want to go back to that zoo. I guess to a 4-year old it looks like the lion can get out.

I was only able to get a picture of the female. She paced the entire time we stood there. The male was around the corner laying down after his excitement of wanting to eat Shawn.

Heidi rode the carrousel a three times. Each time she rode a different animal. This may have been her favorite part of the zoo. We found a carrousel in the mall when we were picking up lunch before heading to the airport. She rode that one also.

This is just a cute picture of Heidi, Pinky, and Moose riding a giraffe.

We had such a good time at the zoo. I hope to see many, many more!

If you want to see more pictures from our trip to the zoo check them out on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnkaraandheidi/sets/72157621230971782/