Sundays are pretty much the only day of the week I’m not rushing out the door. A typical Sunday morning finds us curled up on opposite ends of the couch, massaging each other’s feet, discussing whatever pops into our minds or across our Facebook feed as we plan the adventure of the day.
This Sunday was no different and what popped into Michael’s mind was a trip to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens.
When he first mentioned it, I must admit that I wasn’t as excited as Michael would have hoped. But, it was a perfect 75 degrees outside and sunny. And he bribed me with breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way, so off we went!
We made quick work of our breakfast and were on our way. Fueled up on biscuits and gravy, pancakes and hash brown casserole, it was time for business, monkey business that is!
It didn’t take long for us to get down to business, monkey business that is! A quick stop at the first photo opportunity captured our hijinks in living color!
Monkeys are one of our all time favorite animals and we love to watch them! They ran up and down the trees, chasing each other and having as much fun as, well, a barrel of monkeys!
Of course there were lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!), but there were also more exotic animals like the sleek Amur leopard, the Chacoan Peccary and the ring tailed lemur with their distinct bandit eyes.
What zoo trip would be complete without a trip to the herpetarium? Thankfully, all the slimy snakes with their hissing tongues were safely tucked behind the glass. No doubt, if Michael could have found a way, those slippery creatures would have been slithering down my back!
They had quite a collection of creepy, crawly insects as well. Standing there, I could almost feel the hairy legs of the Chilean rose tarantula or the sting of the Asian Forest Scorpion. Listen close and you can almost hear the hiss of the Madagascar hissing cockroach. That’s about as up close and personal as I want to get to these invertebrates!
Next was the aviary, with more species of birds than I could count. No ordinary robin or blue jay here! We saw silvery cheeked hornbills, a tawny frogmouth and our personal favorite, a guira cuckoo. That bird looks as crazy as we are!
There was so much to see and do! We decided next time we visit we will bring all of the children and grandchildren and try the very elaborate zipline and the Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Garden.
This turned out to be a crazy good date!