No Bicycles Allowed At The Zoo
This post was supposed to be a continuation of the previous post, but that will have to wait.
Thursday September 25, 2008 was cloudy and mild, with rain supposed to hold off at least until late afternoon.
Susan and I did a really strange thing. We did NOT go bicycling. We went to the zoo. Not just any zoo, but THE BRONX ZOO.
Let me explain some things about the Bronx Zoo, before I tell you what happened.
- I have been going to this zoo for 55 years.
- When I first went and for many years, thereafter:
- big cats were in concrete floor cages with a few tree limbs
- apes were constantly being moved from one small quasi jungle habit to another
- the elephants should have died of boredom
- Then, over time, the zoo started to figure it all out
- Eventually they became WCS (The Wildlife Conservation Society) and everything changed.
It has been three to five years since my last visit and the place was nice then.
Now it is more like a park with animals than just a zoo.
There are plantings, trees, flowers and even gardens all over the place.
From what I can tell, every animal is in some sort of natural habit environment.
There are no steel bars — there are wire and glass windows — or with some exhibits open air between you and the critters.
Since much is inside or partially inside, you can go anytime of year.
For those of you who have not been or not been for awhile here is a partial list of things to see: African Plains, Aquatic Bird House, Baboon Reserve, Butterfly Garden, congo Gorilla Forest, Tiger Mountain, Jungleworld, Madagasacar!, Money House, Worlds of Birds, Darkness and Reptiles.
The place is big, clean and well appointed with staff anywhere you go. You can walk, ride or do both.
What happened was we tried the “there are things to do besides bicycle” philosophy. What a concept!
We will be back on our bicycles as soon as it stops raining — but it was great interlude.
Glenn