A few weeks ago, I was gifted a trip to the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens for my birthday. If you get the chance to visit, it is quite lovely!
I have been a few times to visit, each with enough time between the visits to be able to see and enjoy the new additions that the zoo has. Some features within the zoo include an Air Adventure zip line, the Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Grounds, the Massey Services Insect Zoo, a Herpetarium, Barynard Children’s Zoo, Botanical Garden and hundreds of animals throughout!
Just a side note… I went with my cousin Tiffany and her children Tyler and Madison, and a very dear friend of mine, Mel.
This is home to typical barnyard animals like the pygmy goats
and rooster shown here.
We also saw a llama and zebu in here.
Tyler was ready to go as soon as we stepped into this area as it does smell like a barn. You can see him up there holding his nose!
He did so practically the whole time!
And down on the bottom, behind us is a barnyard gift shop.
Such cute little stuffed animals in there!
Here’s a collection of some of the birds we saw.
Top Left: Wreathed Hornbill; Top Right: Bald Eagles;
Bottom: Macaws – Tyler didn’t like how noisy they were!
I just love monkeys! This Siamang looked so lonely in this huge enclosure.
Poor Tyler though – he was terrified of this guy!
We got to see the African Spurred Tortoise make his way over to his food dish.
He is a very messy eater.
The Sea Otter exhibit is a newer exhibit. The time prior to this one, they were asking for donations to build this exhibit.
Tyler did not want to leave this guy.
He thought he was coming down to give him a high five.
The photos are in order of the sea otter’s routine:
Top Left: Swim across along the top with his little face above water.
Top Right: Come down into the water.
Bottom Left: Turn around on the glass – “high five”.
Bottom Right: Push off of the glass.
Repeat.
Also new to the zoo were the Giraffes. I read that all three are males and named Rafiki, Emba and Gage.
They were pretty calm while we were there, just hanging around but Madison did get to see one of their purple tongues. She was very excited.
Towards the end is the Botanical Garden. It is a very peaceful place to be.
Top Left: Madison sitting on a bench watching the butterflies fly around.
Top Right: The beautiful Monarch butterflies we got to see flying around.
Middle: Madison and Tyler “playing” chess with pieces almost as big as they are!
Bottom: The frog is “jumping” out of a fountain/pond, and to the left is a bench shaped like a really big butterfly. I would love to sit on that bench and drink my morning coffee.
Playground, and Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Zone.
The kids had a blast!
In the last photo on the bottom, Mel had befriended a little guy that was just the cutest thing! He was running around with the biggest smile on his face, and just wanted to play with everyone. Poor little guy slipped twice, and both Tiffany and Mel went over to help him up and to his mommy who was resting with a new little one.
On the way home, the weather was still just as gorgeous as when we set out!
And we even stopped for some ice cream cones.
We all had a great day! 🙂
Please note, some of my images are not pinnable on purpose. Permission is not granted for sharing photos of my family.
Linked Up To…
Wordless Wednesday: A Scuba Adventure – The Philosopher’s Wife
Wordless Wednesday: The Original Keyboard Cat – Create With Joy
Hello, I love your crochet, it is beauty, I love this colors, I follow your blog, I have a blog about crochet with free patterns and free crochet diagrams, visit me , hugs from Brazil.
Visite meu blog – Tita Carré – Crochet
On my way over!
It looks like a "Dream Visit" to me! I vacationed in Ft. Laud. about 20 years ago and loved it! We chartered a about and went fishing, caught a wonderful sail fish and several dolphin fish (not what everyone thinks, Not "Flipper") lol. Your photos are fantastic and looks and sounds like everyone had a great time too! 🙂
A "boat" that is! and P.S. my lovely tiles arrived yesterday (Wed) from your etsy shop! LOVE THEM!! You are the 1st person I have purchased from on Etsy, you made it so easy and a super great experience for me! And the lovely handwritten note you included is treasured as well. Thank you so much. Will head to your shop today to follow up 🙂
It was a lovely trip! I am glad I was able to go, and watch my little cousins get so excited about the different animals and have fun playing.
Chartering a boat sounds fun! I don't do too well on boats though. I don't get to have any fun. I do better fishing on land, where my feet stay grounded. Hehe.
So glad you had a pleasant experience shopping with me! That is what I strive for each time. Makes it equally pleasant for me to have such wonderful people LIKE YOU interested in my items and supporting the small business. 🙂
Such fun – great shots!
I hope you will come link up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/04/at-keyboard.html
I missed this one, but I will catch the next one! I have added your Wordless Wednesday party to my page of parties!