The Cincinnati Zoo
We recently visited Cincinnati with our church youth group. The Cincinnati Zoo was one of the 3 attractions on our agenda. I love a good zoo. I don’t know what it is about them that excites me. In a way, they are basically the same thing – so if you’ve seen one, haven’t you seen them all? Even still, I will go with childlike enthusiasm every time.
The weather was not awesome on zoo day. It was rainy, overcast. The temps were in the 60s, so I expected to feel chilly when wet. This was not the case. I was basically boiling in my rain poncho. Remy walked the entire time, so his stroller was kind of useless. I purchased an umbrella stroller for this trip… The stroller we normally use is a little bulky, and I thought the umbrella one would be easy to schlep all over the place. Unfortunately, an umbrella stroller is really not helpful for carrying bags. The storage is minimal.
Even though rainy and overcast is probably not the weather one would dream up, I suppose it worked in our favor for the animals. They were active. Our group got some really cool pics, and the kids got to see some impressive animals up close.
We didn’t see everything. Our group was only at the zoo for a few hours. And we all split up. I walked around with Remy, Riley,, my Aunt Vickie, my friend Mindy and her son. My aunt lives in Cincinnati, and I called her to meet us. I’m glad she could. Remy loved walking around with her.
Monkeys, a cheetah and giraffes at the Cincinnati Zoo
Our first animal experiences came when we stumbled upon the swans. Remy was quite excited. They were honking at each other, which he just found hysterical.
My favorite part of the trip was watching Remy excitedly experience all these new things.
Riley had fun too. His fun was more wrapped up in who was with us at any given moment. Apparently, Mom is not as cool to an 11-year-old as she is to a toddler. *insert eye roll*
The cheetah was hiding in the back of her enclosure when we first arrived. But on a second walk-by, she was on the move.
I am SO glad I brought my long lens.
Hippos, a tiger, some silly gorillas, and more at the Cincinnati Zoo
There were a bunch of people in line to see the hippos. And for good reason. Two of them were right up at the glass. Remy walked right up to them.
On our way to the gorillas and tiger, we ran across the manatees and lemurs. We did not go into the manatee exhibit. We are from Florida, where sea cows are easy to find in the wild. The lemurs were asleep. That was a bummer; Remy loves King Julien (from Madagascar movies). Marcus and Riley were more excited to see the squirrels chasing each other around than they were of the sleeping lemurs. That gave the adults a good chuckle… we came all the way here for you to cheer for the random, generic squirrels. Huh.
Riley is going through this phase (it’s been several years) where he refuses to pose nicely for pictures. Here is a lovely series of him “photobombing” our pictures. And Remy followed suit for the last one.
The tiger was in the way back of her enclosure. I think it was lunchtime. She was pacing back and forth. Thankfully, she came out into the open for about 2 minutes. It was long enough for me to snag a few great photos. Have I mentioned that tigers are my favorite?
The gorillas were funny. It was raining when we came upon them. The big male was giving the crowd some serious side-eye. When we rounded the corner, we found several ladies just relaxing against the glass. Riley liked this exhibit. Remy was more cautious in this one than he had been in others.
Here are a few pics from a random assortment of animals:
By this point, Remy and Riley were both beginning to descend into hangry-ville. We did not make it over to the penguins with our friends. Instead, I had to pit stop at the snack bar.
And that was basically it for the Cincinnati Zoo. We met up with our group, and left to eat lunch in Newport, KY.
My final thoughts on the Cincinnati Zoo
I loved it. If we ever find ourselves in the area, I would go back. Next time, I would plan to spend the entire day in the Zoo. Half a day was too short. And because of that, we did not get to see all of the animals.
Covid considerations? In case you are wondering…
- You need to purchase tickets in advance for the specific day you are attending.
- Masks are not required outdoors.
- Masks are required in the indoor exhibit houses.
