May 2019 – After our visit to the National Capital Trolley Museum, Aliyah decided to check out a more widely known DC attraction – the National Zoo.
The zoo has always been beautiful and lush, and today was no exception. Even when you aren’t looking at the animals, it’s a great experience just walking through the park and enjoying the general gorgeousness of the landscaping. We visited on a somewhat rainy weekday, so there weren’t big crowds, and we didn’t mind a little rain anyways. It was a beautiful, cool May afternoon, and it felt like we had the whole zoo to ourselves. As an added bonus, since it was rainy, Aliyah got to wear her rubber boots and jump in muddy puddles!
One of the first exhibits we checked out was the elephant enclosure.
Of course we HAD to visit the Panda House! We were really lucky – the pandas were out and busy chomping down on bamboo and generally being adorable. Aliyah was as fascinated as anyone else, and we got some great shots of pandas doing what pandas do… eating and sleeping mostly.
Aliyah also found an interactive “Bamboo Quest” exhibit, and as a pre-reader, her main interest was in making sure it could spin ALL the way around. The educational aspect she found less compelling, but maybe when’s she’s four?
There was also a lot of interesting reading material for the more, er, literate of us.
Well, yes, OF COURSE we had to check out the gift shop, because, COOL STUFF! And shopping!
Back to reviewing the exhibits, Aliyah inspected the bisons, but they didn’t really hold her attention.
One of the big cats (lion or tiger) was in heat, and she let EVERYONE in the ENTIRE zoo hear about it. Wow, I had no idea those girls could be so undignified.
There were some very scenic raised walkways with activity stations that added to the enjoyment of our stroll through the park.
Aliyah takes advantage of a teachable moment to explain about cats…
We even were treated to some wild cardinals flirting along the walking path.
We walked around enjoying the scenery and learning about all the animals, but frankly we had just as much fun gathering leaves off the ground. Who knew leaves could be so absorbing?
There was also a lot of cute animal statuary, including elephants, frogs, anteaters, and more.
On our way back out of the park, we took a few more pics of the flower beds. So pretty!
We finally got kindly directed to the exits, as they were trying to close for the night, but Aliyah had so much fun that we practically danced out to the car.
Aliyah’s final assessment: “Can we come back tomorrow after breakfast?”
Two little thumbs up!
About the National Zoo
Address:
3001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
Website:
nationalzoo.si.edu/