Never have my feet hurt so much! We visited the Calgary Zoo this past fall and I wanted to see it all. It was sunny and hot, and I hadn't realized how much the zoo had grown in the last 30 years, so by the time we finished, my feet were literally burning with pain! Do I regret it? Not one bit. What an incredible adventure we had that day.
We parked our car and walked through an underground tunnel into the zoo. The very first creatures we encountered, were the penguins. I've never seen them swim before and they were lightning fast. They dived and darted, popping their heads out of the water at the end of each circuit. Absolutely fascinating.
We sauntered into the Canadian Wilds area where we saw many familiar animals: mountain sheep and goats, owls, whooping cranes, black bears, a big fat black-tailed prairie dog, and a gorgeous cougar. Some of these animals are rescued from the wild and nursed back to health. They will not survive in the wild and so they remain at the zoo, well-fed and cared for in large enclosures.
We crossed over the river onto the island and decided it was a good time to sit in the shade and have lunch. We wandered down to the Kitamba Café, grabbed two salads and sat on the shaded patio for a spell. Once rested, it was time to visit the Eurasia pavilion. My favourites there were the Snow Leopard, tiger, pandas and flamingoes. What magnificent animals.
By the time we got to the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, Gene (my husband), was ready for a sit-down, so I left him and entered the Enmax Conservatory to look at the butterflies. It was hot and humid inside. There were some delicate and colourful specimens and I managed to capture a few fairly good shots.
Destination Africa came next. My arm was tired from carrying my camera and 200 mm lens in the intense heat but determined to see the entire zoo, we plodded on. I love the way they designed the hippo enclosure so you can watch them swim. They are much more graceful underwater than on land!
The gorillas stole my heart. I do not understand how anyone could look into their eyes and not see intelligence and soul. They are behind glass so it's difficult to take photographs. I stood watching them with their young and wished I could linger there forever. After passing zebras, giraffes, ostriches, and crowned cranes, we arrived at our last stop which was the lemurs. If you decide to enter the enclosure, you have to leave coats and purses outside but they did allow me to keep my camera. At one point I was standing very still watching one of them and the keeper said, "come slowly to me, there's a lemur right above your head." Shortly after that, I made my exit - stage right!
There was only one area of the zoo left but as Gene had seen it with one of his daughters not that long ago (and wasn't very impressed), he waited for me while I toured the Prehistoric Park. The main reason I wanted to see it was because it was my son's favourite place the last time I visited and I hoped to see many improvements in the thirty years which had passed. I was sorely disappointed. There are not many dinosaurs and the ones that are there are sadly lacking (especially if you have been to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller).
I walked a brisk pace around the Prehistoric Park and as I exited, I was relieved to see Gene's smiling face and the ice cream shop! By now my feet were screaming at me - "SIT DOWN!" so we did and as we licked our soft-serve cones, a peacock maneuvered in and out of the tables around us. We had a fabulous day at the zoo and now I just wanted to retreat to our airconditioned hotel room, kick my shoes off and rest awhile before heading to a restaurant for dinner. It had been a superb trip to Calgary.
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