We had been told by many folks here that the zoo here was something special. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah ... After having been to San Diego (albeit the Wild Animal Park) just a few weeks ago, and the San Diego Zoo in the past, as well as other major zoos (e.g. Dubbo), we were somewhat skeptical, and also felt that the kids may be now numb to zoos.
We found ourselves with a free afternoon today, so decided to check it out. It is located on the north side of DC, on the banks of Rock Creek, near Georgetown
We were pleasantly surprised. I saw a number of animals I had never seen before in a zoo (e.g. Armadillo, Chameleon, Nautilus are three I can think of off the top of my head).
Liz and I both commented a number of times how alive the animals were. Our past experiences of zoos have been trying to spot animals sleeping. Well at this zoo they were all really active. Some of them were being fed while we were there and there were zoo volunteers everywhere, explaining what we were seeing. Sam enjoying trying to stump them with questions.
The Komodo Dragons were very entertaining to watch, the giant tortoises were "running" around, and the hippo spent its time playing with the large rubber ball and nearly getting it over the fence by bouncing it on its nose. We got within centimeters of some large Orangatuns (through glass) as they searched for popcorn that the keepers had left for them.
And then there were the Pandas, which were also moving around, eating and playing.
The indoor displays of the small mammals, invertebrates, reptiles, and apes were very impressive. One of the elephants was showing off its weight on the scales while we watched.
Rather than being underwhelmed, we came away extremely impressed and wanting more. We only saw about half of the zoo, so there is plenty more yet to explore.
It is a Smithsonian Zoo, so entrance is free. We will certainly be back.
