...when we lived in Columbia, SC - we were members of the awesome Riverbanks Zoo there - and because we were members - we never felt like we needed to get through the entire zoo in a day (probably possible - but rushed) - so we went just whenever and spent time with our favorite animals - some of Scout's fondest memories of SC are from the zoo...
...and the Omaha Zoo did not disappoint - it is the cleanest zoo I've ever visited - the animals seemed happy and well cared for - and no bad smells...
...this beautiful bird is from the huge Rainforest exhibit - a lot of animals had free run of the very large structure - but this little bright blue guy was safe behind his little cage...
...most of the large 'trees', amazingly, were actually concrete building supports cleverly disguised as trees - and most of the vines were actually ropes covered with a durable molded plastic - they certainly looked and felt like vines - and one of the zookeepers told us that true vines would not last very long...all of the greenery is authentic...
...Scout loved the Rainforest - that and the aquarium were visited twice...
..there were so many sweet little baby animals...
...and there were plaques telling you their names and birthdays, etc...
...of course Scout was especially interested in all the fish in the rainforest...
...you should have seen how happy and excited these guys got when their keeper walked by with some food...
...looking out from behind a waterfall...
...beautiful birds...
...and beautiful flowers...
...Karen with the floating earth orb...
...now on to the Desert Dome...
...amazingly realistic and amazingly warm...
...again - a lot of the animals were free to roam about the dome...
...hot...hot...hot...
...super sweet meerkats - Scout still remembers watching the Meerkat family on Discovery and how sad it was...
...more fish for Scout...
...a sweet bunny - hiding from us...
...downstairs was a nice big nocturnal exhibit - or as Scout used to say when he was little NOT turnal...
...we took the chairlift ride...twice...
...it gave us a different perspective of the giraffes...
...the primates seemed so happy and playful - I'm sure this guy was smiling at us...
...Wow! that's a big hand...
...the Silverbacks - as always - look so noble and intelligent...
...Scout just inches from a big silverback...
...the black bear - he's native to my hometown - remember when we saw one earlier close to Mom's...
...a tired looking Polar Bear - somehow reminds me of Jack...
...did I mention that the weather was GORGEOUS!...
...the big cats were so playful...
...and the little ones were adorable...
...I'm so fascinated with penguins...
...Scout insisted that I take a picture of the snow making apparatus and show it to you...this was just lightly snowing on the penguins...
...Scout gets really close to the penguins...
...now on to Scout's favorite - the Aquarium...
...they had the walk through tunnels like at the aquarium in Minneapolis...
...we saw this guy cleaning a tank - probably not a Marine Biologist - but Scout still thought it was cool...
...oh my - that's a scary one - just look at those teeth...
...so glad we weren't rushed at all - Scout could stand just as long as he liked - finding all of the fish in the tank...
...do you think Scout's too old for the petting barn - Nope! - that was one of his favorite places at the Riverbanks Zoo - and he asked to go pet the goats...
...the sweet prairie dogs had free run of the park - they're just like the ones here - happily barking away...
...and another Baby born this year - taking a nap...
...and his playful parents...this exhibit was a public pool in the 1930s...
...no trip to the zoo would be complete without an elephant - reminds me of Water for Elephants...
...the rhinos are certainly big and scary...
...according to this clock we still had a couple of hours before the Imax show - so we headed back to the Rainforest and the Aquarium again...
...then we watched the Imax showing of the 'Coral Reef' before catching our shuttle back to the hotel...
...a lovely day - full of memories...
...more memories here...
oh, so cool! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletewere the koi fish still at the beginning? we used to feed them with popcorn.
Looks like you saw everything! On our recent trip to the Pittsburgh zoo the big cats were as usual lounging about in the sun but the polar bears were really having a blast playing in the water. They have a tunnel underneath so we saw them very closeup underwater, really amazing. I have mixed feelings on zoos, hate to see the animals living there but I am so in awe of getting near something I would not get a chance to otherwise see like that. Wee One mostly enjoyed the monkeys and picking up leaves and sticks while walking, hopefully next year he'll find the animals more exciting!
ReplyDeleteok, that's wonderful except that most of the pictures of me are of my backside! lol
ReplyDeletelove, k
What a great zoo. I'm with Scout about fish, amazing creatures.
ReplyDeleteAnd, no-one is too old for the petting zoo!
Continue to have a splendid time on your hols!
What an incredible visit! I love it. I want to go now too! Thanks for sharing this with us-an awesome post! Peace, Angela
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was a great day at the zoo. Awesome penguins!
ReplyDelete