Welcome to the Columbus Zoo

Leona’s First Zoo Trip

Yesterday was Leona’s first trip to the zoo. Mike and I met Cecelia, Kevin and Leona at the front entrance. Cecelia was joined by her friend Melissa and her three children, Vera, Jonah and Seva.

The first point of order was to find the polar bears. Vera was the official map bearer, as she had recently learned about map navigation from Dora, the Explorer.

We arrived at the Polar Frontier and went downstairs to the underwater viewing area. All we could see were the resident rainbow trout. It was close to the babies’ feeding time, so we sat and the children had some food. Kevin told us that he had noticed that the polar bears were topside, taking a nap.

After the snack, we returned above and the older kids visited the playground area. Kevin and Cecelia got a lunch snack and Leona and I went to see the brown bears.

One of the brown bears was playing in their pond and holding on to a large blue ball, like a floatation device. Another bear was having a snack in their little alcove, that had a window to this viewing area. As you see from the photo, the Columbus Zoo tries to make the surrounding area decorative with the rocks by the ‘cave’ viewing spot.

Kevin took his turn carrying Leona in the child carrier. Makes you feel kin to the kangaroo. The plan was to allow her to get a ‘cat nap’. We walked through the rest of the North American area and planned to look for the giraffes. We got to the Asia Quest area, where I remembered the giraffes were at, and they were not there. Must be on ‘vacation’, like the Polar bears were for such a long time. The only place we saw giraffes were on the Pepsi vending machines. Mellisa has a family membership and goes to the zoo often. They had not visited the Asian area, so this was a treat for them. We saw Sun bears, langurs, a giant snake and fruit bats. Later we saw the elephants and rhinos. It was time to head to another playground for children fun.

Cecelia gave a break to Vera, as her little legs were getting tired. That means that Leona got to be with Grandpa and we walked around the exhibit. Grandpa and Leona stopped by a large canvas picture of a tiger and she got to touch the picture.

Along the way, I caught Leona enjoying the texture of Grandpa’s corduroy shirt. She does like exploring different items. The next step is usually putting the item in her mouth. Not this time, Leona! Since we took time to explore the tiger canvas and see the lions, we were separated from the rest of the group. Luckily, Kevin waited for us, so we knew which way to turn. We were headed to the playground by the koala bear/Australia area. We toured the Aquarium as it was restroom break for the kids.

Leona was fascinated by the big fish in the main tank. This photo doesn’t show much in the tank, but a school of large fish were passing by and that is why Leona was trying to touch them. We spent some time here as we didn’t know Mellisa had headed out to the playground, while we were around the corner in the main viewing area.

We continued on our trek and I stopped to see the penguins. They are nesting, but a few penguins were in the outside area. They have a side area for you to see the inner santum. The zoo had placed ‘dog’ crates for the penguins to use as nests. I found this to be an interesting item for the zoo keepers to use. Good thing the penguins don’t what this crates are normally used for.

Jonah is not camera shy. Several times, he would ask for someone to take his picture. Since I like penguins, I enjoyed taking this photo of him hugging Pepe the Penguin. Our last stop for the afternoon was to visit the Manatees. A good time was had by all. Next week is Spring Break for my niece, Mary. I suspect we will visit the zoo again next week. Cecelia got a membership and I did too!