Cherie and I spent Sunday / FunDay at the Toronto zoo before Cherie had to catch her flight back to Halifax from Pearson international airport. We had slept in Sunday morning before making our two hour drive to the Zoo. The temperature was reading 37 degrees Celsius with the humidity for the day on the weather network and we arrived at the zoo hungry around 3 pm in the afternoon.
I forgot to bring a hat and with the mid-afternoon sun pummeling my sensitive geek skin we hurried to the gift shop after paying the $72 CAD admission and parking fees. I picked up a decent Canada ball cap and Cherie grabbed a few souvenirs for the kids before we mapped our way to one of the Cafes in the park. A short while later we enjoyed a cheeseburger and mozza sticks while we watched a sketchy squirrel hustle around grabbing french fries off the ground.
Bellies full and one grapefruit radler to quench my thirst later we had two hours to speed through as much of the part as we could!
First stop was the gorillas in the rain forest pavilion. We were hoping to see the baby born just a few weeks ago but we couldn't see her easily. She may have been tucked away from the brutal heat. After the gorillas we made a tour of the African savanna looking at giraffes and rhinos and a variety of other birds and animals. On the way back to the park entrance we stopped in to see the penguins who were inside being fed.
Finally we passed through Indo-Malaya with a long pause watching a Tiger stare me down while lounging in a pool of water and licking his chomps. I was more than a little glad for the elevation and the fencing between us! What an amazing beast!
After a short fight with a sold out vending machine, desperate for water, Cherie and I grabbed an expensive drink at the Tim Horton's in the park and sped away to Pearson arriving just after 7 pm giving lots of time to make her 825 pm boarding time.
All in all an incredible weekend and some shockingly good penguin photos that were taken through a Plexiglas window.
Hope you all enjoy the photos and I'll keep dreaming of new locations to take shots to share with you all in the near future!
Cheers,
~ The RPG
