It’s all happening at the zoo …

 Drew and I are members of the New York Wildlife Conservation Society:

Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society was one of the first conservation organizations in the U.S. The Society began with a clear mandate: Advance wildlife conservation, promote the study of zoology, and create a first-class zoo. In fact we have five: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium.

As members we have access to all four zoos and the aquarium. 

So when you take vacation days and your trip gets cancelled, what do you do?

You go to the zoo. The Bronx Zoo, to be specific.

The Bronx Zoo is huge.  We were there almost a full day and didn’t see everything.  It can be expensive — in addition to parking and admission, there are activities and exhibits that charge an extra fee, all included in our membership.  We did a lot of those activities.  You can spend the whole day in the zoo without any of the extras, of course. 

Ready for the safari

Real men shoot game with their cameras.

But you don’t want to see us, you want to see animals.

But first, a word about the zoo.  It was founded at a time when animals were kept in cages, not habitats.  Many of the original buildings have been repurposed, others have been abandoned.  The architecture is amazing,

The grounds of the zoo … it’s right along the Bronx River, an oasis of greenery in the midst of an urban neighborhood.  I love the waterfall at the Bronx River gate.

Yes, those are Canada geese.  Not officially part of the zoo, but they live here. I also saw sparrows and robins and a cardinal.

When we arrived at the zoo, we were greeted with this:

Yes, the dinosaur safari is back.  We decided to walk through the display.

Yes, they do make it educational.

And did you notice what was in  background of that first video?

They’re into recycling and composting. 

A quick word about food … we had lunch at the Dancing Crane.  Drew had hot dogs and French fries.  But I had a rice bowl — I was able to choose chicken, black beans, roasted onions a mozzarella, with ranch dressing, for my bowl.  Very nice.

And I got a great tee shirt 

So ..,yes, we saw a lot of animals. Here are a few.

We have to go back and see all the animals that we missed.  But first I want to go to the aquarium, we haven’t been there in awhile.