Albuquerque Adventure Part 2: We went to the Zoo!

It was a warm Saturday, with wind fresh from the desert. We packed up our lunch, got in the car, and headed down south towards Albuquerque downtown. This was our theme song (Peter Paul and Mary "Going to the Zoo"). And we went! Wish you could have come too!

Greg with some tortoises

Greg and I with beautiful tropical birds exhibit 

This is a better picture of the gorgeous birds

Here is a picture of  some tiny monkeys who were animated and interesting. Their features are so well defined - they look like tiny, wise, ancient, guardians of their nest. Greg really liked these monkeys.

Guess what we didn't see? Snakes. Snakes are what I am most afraid of in the world - but we did take a picture outside their house, just before we headed to see the alligators.

Isn't this alligator amazing? They can stay submerged for hours on end in the water, waiting to strike their prey. They are huge too - this one was atleast 7 feet long. I felt so bad though, as they were housed in a cement building, and in a solitary cell with sand, a small pool of water, and cinderblock walls. Then again, where would you keep an alligator?

This is us in front of the bald eagle's cage ( the bald eagles are behind us here)

And here they are! Magnificent creatures - and symbol of our country. Aren't they astounding?

This is a picture of Greg with the Polar bear. Seeing these real life large and stunning creatures was one of my favorite parts of going to the zoo.

This reminds me of the large and cuddly polar bear that Gma and Gpa Cummings gave me for my birthday once - and how I loved having such a big warm cuddly bear. Recently, I think my polar bear has been used for giving rides through the air to adventurous nephews and nieces ;)

This polar bear is not quite so cuddly - but still amazing.

This is the lazy king of the jungle - I don't blame him for being lazy - it was hot! I think we just caught him in the middle of his afternoon nap.

This is a kangaroo (in the shadow).

Sleepy mountain lions - guess how close they were to the exhibit window?

This close! We were excited to be that close to these impressive animals. 

We were trying to get some beautiful small, Australian green birds in the picture too (thus Greg's concerned look :)

Here they are!

"If you stray, on one fine day, to a warm and sunny place" - don't sit down, instead stand up! "If you look with all your might, and squint your eyes so very tight," you'll see the koala in this picture with me :) (Do you remember where those phrases are from?) !

I thought of Aaron who served his mission in Australia as we looked at these animals. We also saw a kookaburra! "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, eating all the gumdrops he can see..."

I think this is a wallaby in the picture with Greg - I am not sure - I am sure that Greg is handsome :)

Trying to get pictures with the giraffe :)

Did you know that the tallest giraffe recorded was over 19 feet tall? 

The elephants had the nicest exhibit I think - with a nice big pool for cooling off. The trees were protected against being torn or picked up by these great animals.  We really liked seeing them.

Hippos! Seeing these made me think of Kristan L. These guys undoubtedly had the best swimming pool - deep and cool and big. We walked on a bridge right over it! They shared their pool space with the warthogs nearby.

Greg with the gorillas! These are amazing animals - it is easy to see a resemblance between mankind and apes - their fingers and feet are nimble and they use them like we do. You might not be able to see, but there was a gorilla nearby playing with a newspaper - it looked like he was reading it! Greg wanted to get a picture with the gorilla reading the newspaper, but I wasn't quite quick enough. These primates move fast!

That was our trip to the zoo. We saw many wondrous creations of God. Beautiful plants, stunning animals, and a best friend to see it with. We had a great time!