Do the zoo!

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that we go to the zoo regularly. Personally, I have never been a big fan of zoos. It seems sad that the animals are in captivity. But the more I go, the more I learn that many of the animals in zoos have been rescued, were born in zoos through programs to protect and grow populations of endangered species, and that the zookeepers are really about preservation and education.

After going to Gumbo Limbo last Monday, Grace kept asking to see "more turtles". I had heard some great things about the Palm Beach Zoo, so we took the 1/2 hour ride north to check it out on Tuesday. It happened to be a cool day so it was a perfect morning for the zoo since it wasn't great for the beach or pool.

The zoo consists of 23 acres of lush tropical habitats that are home to more than 1,700 animals from Florida, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Although we were there for over 2 hours, we didn't see all of it! As we entered we walked through a section of the zoo dedicated to the animals of Central and South America. There were many replicas of Mayan structures including pyramids, huts, and statues that made you feel like you were walking back in time.

We were able to get really close to two jaguars who were sunning themselves right on the other side of the glass. Grace got right down close to them for a LONG time. She didn't want to leave and kept saying, "I touch jaguar" and "Baby jaguar" (from Diego, of course!). One of the jaguars was named Maya and turned one year old in October 2009. She lives at the Palm Beach Zoo with her mother. Her father, Muchacho, also lives there but is kept separately from the females as they would be in nature. (Males and females only come together to mate.)We also saw a bird show called "Wings over Water" where the audience was introduced to many different kinds of birds. They flew back and forth between the audience and a little island where two zookeepers had treats.

Ba did his own little bird show when he coaxed a peacock up onto a picnic table for this photo!

We also saw a white alligator. It wasn't clear if he was albino since his eyes were blue instead of pink. But we figured it was probably good that he was here in his own little house since he probably would have a hard time blending in if he had to live in the wild and survive on his own.

At the end, Nana took Grace into the gift shop. She carefully examined many different things in the store and finally chose a snake and asked Nana, "It coming?" You know the answer! We went home with a rubber snake tucked into Grace's purse with her trains and toy lizards from Christmas!

I liked this quote that was on one of the walls at the zoo....

Remember: take only pictures,
leave only your footprints behind,
and kill nothing but time.