It is kinda weird to be on the same subway car for almost an hour. Mostly because EVERYBODY gets off in Manhattan and new people get on. The subway is (mostly) meant to take people TO Manhattan from Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx. Whatever, it goes from Brooklyn to The Bronx too.
Before we even got to the Zoo we saw the rare black squirrel. Not so many in Kings County.
Also as we walk along Boston Rd to the Zoo I notice this display in a ground floor window. Kinda cute. Kinda creepy.
So we jumped on the naturally air-conditioned Wild Asia Monorail. We were lucky enough to get into the front car with the driver/guide. Joel definitely deviated from his prescribed script and made the ride that much more fun. Her is the view of the Bronx River. You can find a billion photos of the red panda, I thought this was cool.
We also rode the Zoo Shuttle. Again we got the front seat. I asked the driver where the best water fountain was in the Zoo. I told him how offended I was that the Zoo promotes "ecology" and"sustainability" yet at the same time sells plastic bottles of water and does not properly maintain the drinking fountains. (Nothing has changed in the past year) He told me where it was and that he could drop us there if his boss was not around because it was not a bus stop. (It was outside the restrooms near the main gift shop.) I like this photo of the back of the driver's head. You can see a little of my son in the rear view mirror.
Last Summer we played in a playground funded by Tiki Barber. It was really great to have a place for kids to get physical when they have been "walking" and "looking" for a while. Today we looked for it and instead found a Dora the Explorer 4-D theater. Not the same thing. NOT. But the nice people working there told me that on most Saturdays they have over 5,000 visitors. I guess it is not so bad.
I love the Congo Exhibit. It is absolutely breathtaking. They have a short film about the Congo and man's impact on it's environment. When it ends the screen goes up and the curtains behind it part to give the people that have been looking at the move a grand view of the exhibit. So I gotta post one touristy photo.
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Wow. I've heard about the Bronx Zoo but have never even seen pictures of it. This is wonderful. We actually stayed in the Bronx (don't ask) when we were out to see the opening of the last season at Yankee Stadium. My husband wanted our experience to be real. As it was, it wasn't bad. We ignored the people renting their rooms for an hour and they ignored the two old Canadian baseball fans (our Jays played the season opener against the Yankees that year) and we all ignored the signs on empty lots nearby that said "Beware of Rats, They Bite"!
ReplyDeleteKay, In the Bronx Zoo there is a building call "Mouse House". Lots of cages filled with little (or not so little) rodents. They have Mongolian Gerbils, just like me.
ReplyDeleteBut I tried to photograph the Norway Rat but it was hiding I even tried to get a photo of the sign but it was too dark. The Norway Rat is also call the Subway Rat in NYC. Same animal.
I haven't been to the Bronx zoo since the 1960s, but we used to drive up from Princeton and visit. Other than that, I know nothing of the Bronx (airport, maybe?). Looks like you have a fun day!--Inger
ReplyDeleteNo airports in Da Bronx. JFK and LGA in Queens. Neweark is in NJ.
ReplyDeletehm. I have mixed feelings about zoos but your post makes me want to check it out. I'm glad you said something about the water fountains. The trouble is, most people think about their convenience and not the environment.
ReplyDeletebtw in the US we really need to promote recycling more. Japan goes thru tons of plastic bottles all the time but they recycle EVERYTHING. No one throws trash on the streets. It's pathetic that people don't understand that we really must take care of our world more.