The Bronx Zoo

     Today in the mail I received my membership card to the Wildlife Conservation, otherwise known as the little laminated card that cost me $275 two weeks ago that entitles me "free" entry to the Bronx Zoo, the Prospect Zoo, the Queens Zoo, the New York Aquarium, and the Central Park Zoo.  And it is worth every penny.

     As a family of five, everywhere we turn, whether it's seeing "The Lorax" at the UA Theatres, learning about geology at Liberty Science Center, or going for Mexican on a Saturday night, it's about $150 any way you cut it, so naturally we become members whenever memberships are offered.


     The Bronx Zoo is one of my children's favorites and there never seems to be enough time to see all the attractions they'd like to see, mainly because they have very long attention spans.  My three daughters, ages 12, 8 and 8, can stare at birds or monkeys till the proverbial cows come home. 

     At our last trip there, I think I must've memorized the path one of the two giant tigers took, as Bronx Zoo enthusiasts marvelled at his tiger beauty!  He paced decidedly back and forth, and then up the rock canyon and then back down toward the pond, and then up again the little mountain.  Then he'd snooze there for what seemed like an eternity, only to emerge eventually up to the glass, where my kids can snap a few photos on their iPhones. And then he would turn again and retrace his path. 


     This lasted for close to almost 45 minutes and my daughters' interest waned not one iota. Amazing. Where are these beasts when I need them in my chaotic house during the week? Anyway, my girls' eyes were peeled, their mouths ajar, their voices giggled after having captured some cool photos of these beautiful mammals. They were thrilled. They were hypnotized. They were learning. And that is the beauty of the zoos in general. First-hand experiences with wildlife that would otherwise just be confined to color photos in textbooks.


     When my girls finally extracted themselves from this exhibit, we high-tailed it over to the Ethiopian highlands! The girls immediately forgot about their beloved tigers and feasted their eyeballs on.... the baboons. These charming creatures, all fluffy with manes of fur and interacting with each other with what seemed to me to be very human gestures (ie, holding their young close, fighting with each other fiercely and relentlessly--- this reminded me of my twins, especially), were situated in the “African Alps," which boasted the largest primate collection in the country.

     Then there was the Okapi calf, which one of the twins said looked like a hyena wearing zebra trousers, the Polar bear, the giraffe, the birds, the reptiles, the butterflies and a whole bunch of fish too many to mention. The afternoon flew by.

     The girls were rightly exhausted from wandering the trails of the Bronx Zoo, and even too tired to ride the famous Bug Carousel, but not too tired to get an ice cream cone before we found our way back to our minivan in their parking lot. Where it was parked. For free. Thank heaven for memberships.