National Zoo

Another fun Saturday adventure we took while we were living in MD was to the National Zoo. We got there pretty early to make sure we would get a parking spot and headed straight towards the pandas. The baby panda was just hanging out in the tree and it was pretty funny. We came back a couple of times throughout the morning and it was always just up in the tree. The mama panda was sitting on a log resting. She was pretty close to one of the viewpoints so we had a great view. When we passed by later in the morning she had gone inside so we felt pretty lucky we had already seen her so close. Next we went to watch the elephants. The male was out and about just lumbering around. He walked around the waterhole like he was walking along a balance beam. It was pretty funny to watch. We saw cheetahs, zebras, smaller cats, and other random animals before we hit the bird houses. I especially loved the owls, they are so cute and charming. At that point we had been walking a lot so we headed to the car to eat some lunch and rest before we hit the other side of the zoo. After we were feeling good we went to see all the monkeys including the chimps and apes. Then we went to see some reptiles. The Komoto dragon was sleeping when we got there but it woke up and moved around and looked me right in the eye, it was the scariest. Finally we went to see the big cats. We saw the lions first, there were hoards of people surrounding the whole enclosure so we knew something good was happening. The male lion was on the top tier just resting and watching the mamas and babies play. There were two mother lions and 6 cubs. The cubs were so active and playful with each other and the mamas were keeping them in line. We probably watched them for 20 minutes or more because they were just so cute and funny. The tigers were pretty but kind of boring after watching 6 little lion cubs. We headed down the final trail and saw farm animals, bears (who were also climbing up trees and just sitting in them), sea lions, a beautiful bald eagle, and a few other random animals. We went back for more apes and chimps since they were pretty cool and then ended the day at the lions den again. The mamas and cubs had gone inside but the male lion was still just relaxing on the top tier. All of the sudden he stood up and started roaring. It was out of nowhere. He gave a couple big roars and then sat back down like nothing had happened. It was pretty funny. Overall I would say it was a really successful day at the zoo. We had a great time and were exhausted by the end.