This past week, we enjoyed a lovely day spent touring the Houston Zoo, enjoying their varied exhibits, and getting to see and learn about animals from all over the world. The park has an area devoted just to unique and tropical birds, and another to different kinds of primates. There is everything from Asian Elephants to African Kudu, Grizzly Bear to Cheetah. We all had favorite areas in the zoo – Caleb, our 2 year old, loved the aquarium – it was all we could do to get him to move on to check out the other animals. The reptile house, with it’s albino alligator, and extensive collection of poisonous snakes was popular with our boys and Peanut (our 6yo girl), while the other little girls liked everything in the Children’s Zoo!
The zoo is a great place to visit whether it’s summer or winter – with plentiful shade in the warmer weather, and climate controlled buildings to visit in the cold (or a/c when it’s hot out), there is always a place to get out of the weather. One thing that I loved about the enclosed buildings were the signs that were displayed above many of the enclosures – they were electronic screens that scrolled through colorful pages full of information for each different kind of animal that was in that case. The screens had a picture of the animal, a description, a map showing where the animal is found in the wild, and often a few interesting facts about them.
Along those lines of educational information, the zoo offers a full schedule of ‘keeper talks’; at least a dozen each day, located throughout the zoo, where the keeper tells the audience about certain animals. Also, there are several volunteers dispersed throughout the zoo to answer questions and offer information about the animals that they are placed by.
In the line of just-for-fun, the zoo offers hands-on activities (like bongo drums!), a Wildlife Carousel, a 4-D movie experience, and in the warmer months, a water play park.
There are 3 onsite restaurants which offer outdoor tables and seating, while a variety of food carts dot the grounds, open on busier days. The grounds are well-maintained, and the paths are all handicap accessible with ample benches available for rest stops. We found the zoo to be kept very clean, including the animal pens, and the employees were consistently friendly.
While we traveled to the Houston Zoo with our tribe of children (only 9 of our 12 these days), the zoo offers something for all ages, from upbeat animal antics to beautiful and peaceful bird and aquarium venues (you can read more about our visit here). It is a lovely place to relax for a day! Conveniently located in south central Houston amid the ‘museum district’, the zoo is open 7 days a week, from 9 to 6. You can find out more about the Houston Zoo on their website, or check out their Facebook page. And next time you are in the Houston area, consider a stop by the zoo! 🙂
