The Zoo

For anyone who loves zoos, the National Zoo is a must see! We really like zoos, so I knew we'd enjoy it. I just had no idea how much. It seems that most people go there for the pandas, which are very cool, but there is so much more there to see! I can't even remember it all but I'll try to hit the highlights.

First of all, let me say that we were very lucky to have almost perfect weather. Secondly, we are here during the off season, so there was hardly anyone there. Jason commented that he went in a bathroom set up to service hundreds of people, more stalls than in an airport. He and another person were the only ones in there. In all of the exhibits we were one of two or three families, so there was plenty of space for everyone to get a front row seat. Third, we seemed to be visiting most of the animals at exactly feeding time (I don't really know how that happened in every case), so the animals were often accumulated in one area for easy viewing.

Well, I don't feel like I can write without highlighting the pandas, since they live in so few zoos. The National Zoo was loaned two from China, a male and a female, who bred and now have one baby panda. We saw the baby hiding in a tree and both parents were down below resting. They literally look like stuffed animals. The mommy got up to walk around while we were there, so that was interesting.

Another highlight was the bird house. There were so many birds that I had never seen before. Well, actually, all of the animals were like that. Most of what we saw were things we'd never seen before. In the bird house, most of the birds are in cages but only a foot away, so you can see them very well. In the open area it was snack time, so all of the birds were either pecking nearby (literally a foot away) or swooping above our heads to get the worms being tossed. What beautiful birds these were!

In Amazonia we saw 6 foot catfish! It was huge! There were other fish that we'd never heard of that were about 10 ft and 300 lbs! It was truly amazing to see. Again, lots of species that most zoos and aquariums would not even try to exhibit. I had to keep reminding myself that it is the Smithsonian zoo, after all.

I couldn't possibly tell it all. I also couldn't possibly try to choose a favorite part. I know that Aidan really enjoyed it but I don't know if he enjoyed it as much as we did. He's only been to 3 zoos in his life, so he couldn't have appreciated the rarity of the animals we saw. One indicator of his level of enjoyment is that he didn't nap in the 5 hours it took us to get through the zoo. Yes, I said 5 hours and we skipped a couple of exhibits.

The best part of all is that like the rest of the Smithsonian facilities, the National Zoo is free admission. It only cost us the metro fare to get there and back. I must admit that on my first visit to D.C., I had no interest in the Smithsonian or the zoo. Now that I've had a reason to go, I have to say that everyone should visit the museums, monuments, zoo, etc. It's all free because it all belongs to us. In a time when I'm disgusted by how my tax dollars are being used, I appreciate that they are still being used for something worth while.