5/8/22

 The excitement I felt this morning as I was getting ready to go to the zoo was equivalent to a small child going to Disneyland. I put SPF 50 on every square inch of my body. I am so pale sometimes Paul has to poke me with a stick to see if I am still alive.

Arriving at the zoo had a huge WOW factor. Every detail was calculated in a perfect way. From the way the concrete was stamped with tropical leaves, to the jagged wooded fences and the ambient noises true to the habitat that we were looking at. It was 85 and hot but there was a lot of tree cover and areas of shade which made the heat far more bearable.

The white rhino tour was really well done. We got a behind the scenes tour that included many other animals as well. It was really neat to be able to touch the rhino and feel the toughness of her skin but the move your hand down to one of her skin folds. In between the skin folds the skin was a different texture. It was soft, dry and smooth. 

We then headed over to the manatee critical care tour. It is one of four manatee critical care centers in Florida. It was the only one on the gulf side. Manatees that come to their center are either sick, injured by a boat, ingesting red algae, orphans etc.  once they hit criteria for release, they release them back to the area they were found.

The elephant encounter was last. It was so hot by that point. The elephants showed off their tricks. They use positive reinforcement to train them. Most of the training is to help the workers be able to care for the elephants medically. They even do exercises with them that mimick yoga to help with arthritis.

We walked through a few aviaries. My favorite was the Lorikeet feeding. The lorikeets liked to play with jewelry. One of the birds was nipping at my hand but it didn’t hurt. It was neat to see them so close and touch them. I feel strongly about touching the animals and just want to touch them all. I want to be their friend.

We were sweaty, stinky and tired. I could feel the salt residue on my skin from all the sweat. Yuck! We drove home (35 minute drive) and I felt gross. I showered immediately and felt so much better.!

As the night grew on, it was evident that we got sun, but not scorched which was wonderful. The 50 spf was a great choice.

We spent the evening sitting out on the back patio with the ambient light from the solar lights around the patio. The moon also was casting a glow that was perfect. The bugs were singing away to make a deafening but wonderful backdrop to our chit chat.

We sat talking about life over a few drinks. It was such a fun and memorable day.