If you're anything like me, the idea of "growing up" is pretty daunting and you may be feeling like life is not quite as exciting as it was when you were 6...
So to shake things up I decided to revert to one of my favorite childhood activities and take a trip to the zoo. This time, however, I brought my sweetie and used my impressive adult planning powers to make it (literally) the best zoo trip I've ever had. AND YOU CAN TOO!
First things first: Check the website
We chose to visit the Birmingham Zoo, which is typically $15 or so per adult. But with a little online exploring, we found out that the zoo is half-price on Tuesdays.
Omg.
We had no idea, and it didn't exactly spell it out in bold on the homepage. We had to explore a bit to find out and then suddenly our price was cut in half!
Also by exploring the website a bit you can find out fun facts and current events about the zoo. We learned that the zoo had some newborn baby animals we had to check out while we were there.
But THEN there is the information on there about events that happen at certain times throughout the day. Like apparently if you get there at a certain time in the morning you can feed the giraffes for a couple bucks.
What??!
And we definitely did.
Yeah it was awesome as it looks. Thank you, website.
Next: Check the weather!
This is probably the most crucial. Not only is it better in the morning, but if it's cool outside the animals will be ACTIVE.
I'm serious, getting there in the morning on a cool summer day is the perfect combination.
When it's mid-day and extremely hot, the animals just lay there sleeping....and that makes for a pretty boring day.
But when it's cool, the animals are up doing crazy awesome things! It was amazing!
Examples:
This tiger who just wanted to enjoy his possum snack/toy
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| Yes that is a possum head, Yes he was playing with it. Yes he was that close to us! |
This Horton that Heard a Who
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| Did you know there are aprox. 3,600 muscles in an elephant's trunk alone? |
The elephants were walking around finding treats with their trunks and picking them up and eating them. Also we had never seen an elephant drink water with its trunk in person, which he did, and also get so close to us we could practically reach out and touch him!
This peacock who was feeling extra fabulous
Okay we really aren't sure why but this peacock was walking around minding its own business and then, right before our very eyes, it shook shook shook its wings up out and suddenly it was looking at us like this. Fabulousness: Level Max.
Okay and finally, the Rhino.
I don't have a picture of Mr. Rhino but get this: He was bathing himself in a mud hole only ten feet away from us. Not just bathing, either.
Rolling.
Playing.
Splashing.
He stood up and SPLASHED back down into his bath, spraying mud in all directions...including ours. We literally got mud thrown on us from the unexpected splash-zone.
Not enough to ruin our clothes or anything of course. But it was absolutely awesome!
Next: Pay for the Lorikeet or other bird feeding encounter
This only costs a dollar a person and was probably the highlight of our day.
Basically you get a little cup of nectar and walk in to the exhibit. There, the birds land on you and eat right out of your hand. It is SO amazing to see these little guys up close!
And who knows. You might get a really good selfie with one of them.
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| This is my new bestie, by the way |
Just be zoo-savvy :D
There are tons of other activities at the zoo that you never knew about. Feeding fish to pelicans (if you show up at the right time, again, check the website), camel rides, sea-lion show....and many more.
It's all about how you plan.
Now that I know all of this, I will NEVER have a boring zoo trip again.
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