While we had visitors, we went to the NC Zoo!!
My first time...it was 95+ degrees out and of course had that NC humidity!!! But we survived it...and I saw everything, just as I said I would! Thank goodness this zoo is so well set up, and has alot of shade, also alot of drinking fountains. Spent alot of time refilling our water bottles with those! It was worth all the sweat, it was beautiful!! The park is divided up into two 'continents': Africa and North America, over all it's 5 miles of trails. I took over 200 photos, that was easy to do, here are just some of them...
First thing we saw was our pink friends outside the aviary.
Pretty in
Pink :-)
Then we headed into the aviary...its like a huge tropical greenhouse, full of plants and birds!
I know those people :-) Let's see, there was Mom, Dad, Sheila, Uncle Kenny, Beepa, Kenny, Katelynn, and of course myself. Pheww, there was a bunch of us to keep track of :-)
Did I mention it was pretty?
Even had pineapples.
Everywhere you looked there was something else to see.
This is a banana tree, and its flower.
On our way out....
We then headed to Africa: saw some baboons.
Miss Gorilla. We won't mention what she was doing :-)
A type of eagle native to Africa.
A wide view of some of the park that the rhinos and elephants and others call home.
They opened a giraffe feeding deck, you get to see them very close up. This 1 year old giraffe was hangin' out.
Along with the zebras.
While observing the wildlife, we had to point out Uncle Kenny's fashionable fanny-pack, hehehe.
Elephant!!
Next was the Sonora Desert...some of our group didn't want to enter, in fear of more heat. Myself and a couple others were brave enough to enter...thank goodness we did, to keep the humidity out of the '
desert' they have the a/c on!!! We immediately gathered up the rest of our group and hustled them in, they were
very grateful.
I don't remember what kinda kitty she was, but she was gorgeous! We were all gathering around the glass to her enclosure to try and cut some of the glare to get a better picture of her.
Uncle Kenny and Kenny trying to spy a
black widow spider!
The lion was airing out all his
goods, hehe.
Next we headed to North America:
Can you see the bear??
*Hint: he was keepin' cool under the waterfall.
The
bison were not shy...they stood and posed for us.
Otters! Love these guys...and the heat wasn't bothering them, they were running around, in and outta the water. Here they took a quick break to groom before running around again.
The puffins...they were cute, but I couldn't get a good picture of them. Between the glass they splashed all over and the quick movements they made...my camera wasn't likin' it...but I liked this shot, mostly cuz of the kelp.
Bobcats...they got very close to us, as you can see.
Pretty kitties.
Sunbathing...a favorite pastime at the zoo.
Beyond the two sea lions, the harbor seals were veggin' out after a dip.
Who could forget Mr. Polar Bear?
He too went for a swim.
Last but not least...alligators.
There was sooo much more that we saw. We had alot of fun. Can't wait to go again!
