Today we decided to see the city by signing up to the “hop on hop off bus” which shows us multiple interesting places around the city. However not long into the journey we stopped at their highly respected zoo and it was so good that we never “hopped on” until the end of the day! The zoo has a good reputation for a reason… The habitats were large, natural and we could enjoys various kinds of flora and fauna as we traveled from one landscape to another.

The zoo is organized by Habitats…African Safari, New Zealand land and New Zealand Sea, Australia, and South east Asia. Also South America which we didn’t have time to see.

African Safari… The first animals we see are giraffes including a baby that’s about 6 weeks old (I think). I love giraffes! And nearby were ostriches, and then Nylas, and… Lions and…Excellent views and large areas for roaming.

Next was New Zealand – Interesting because the focus is on birds. Until sailors came to New Zealand there we no mammals on the islands – none! And since there were few predators many birds lost their ability to fly – it wasn’t needed. So much of the New Zealand display was about birds and also life in the sea.

New Zealand sea and reptile…included cute Penguins, creepy eels, tuatara and a monitor dragon.

There are so many more birds, animals and fish I wish I could describe. I’ll finish with a few more photos from the Australia area.