Jacksonville Zoo

Kylie and I started our tour of the Jacksonville Zoo at the Plains of East Africa exhibit. We saw crocodiles, wart hogs, antelopes, cheetahs, lions and colobus monkeys. On one side of the boardwalk, there were zebras and ostriches that really held Kylie's attention. On the other side were trees filled with storks. Tons of storks! I kept saying "Wow!" over and over. People were walking by us, looking at me strangely, but I was so impressed with these huge birds.


This guy perched on a beam over my head and seemed as interested in me as I was in him. Either that or he thought my 3 year old looked like a tasty morsel. These things are huge! Had a really "Jurassic Park" moment looking at him looking at me.




From there, we went to the Stingray exhibit which Kylie and I just loved. You can put your hand in the water and the stingrays (which have their stingers trimmed so they won't hurt anyone) coast under your fingers. It's an incredibly sensation. Standing there listening to Kylie gasp and squeal (with me gasping alongside her), I felt incredibly grateful that we have zoos so that we can appreciate animals such as these.




We rode a train around the zoo that wasn't very impressive but a nice break from the sun and walking. Kylie was just tickled to be riding a train.

Kylie overheard some kids talking about riding the carousel so we went there next. It's a beautiful merry-go-round.






Finally, the kiddo was pretty pooped. She found this quiet area in a group of trees and took a break--just soaking it all in.


We have a lot more to see at the zoo and look forward to going again.