Zoo Atlanta

We visited Zoo Atlanta for the first time today! Holy cow it was humid! Wait, did I just say that it was humid on August 1st in Atlanta...um...guess that's not really a surprise. But we ventured outdoors anyway to see the animals. As it turns out, when it's hot and humid, animals sleep. So here's a snapshot of the visit, "Madeline, do you see the [insert name of animal here]? It kind of looks like a fuzzy rock because it's asleep." See example below - the Giant Panda exhibit for which Zoo Atlanta is semi-famous. This is actually the male Giant Panda and I think the exhibit is air conditioned, so maybe he just ate a little too much bamboo and was having a post-lunch snooze. This was the closest encounter of all of the sleeping rocks we saw at the zoo. The mom and baby Giant Panda were out to lunch.

We did see other animals that weren't asleep like monkeys, birds, and orangutans. I think Madeline might just be old enough to understand that she is looking at an animal. I didn't get a picture, but the elephant did not disappoint - I think it was snack time for him - but Madeline seemed to register that it was an elephant or at least an animal. The fact that the elephant was standing and moving made it easier to recognize it.

The layout of Zoo Atlanta reminded me of the layout of the newer parts of the St. Louis Zoo, which is a FREE zoo FYI...I'm talking to YOU, Zoo Atlanta! But thanks for the free parking :) The zoo feels like it's in the jungle and there are multiple viewing areas and levels for each exhibit. That made it pretty easy to get around and it never really felt too crowded even though we were there on what is basically the next to last Saturday of the summer. They also have a fun kids play area that Madeline didn't want to leave! Her favorite toys were the toddler-sized school bus and the big drums.

Even though most of the animals were asleep, which seems like the smart thing to do in such hot, humid weather, it was a good outing and we stopped at Evos for lunch on the way home! I put a few more pictures from our zoo outing in the Coupe Photo Gallery in the 2009 August album.