Bronx Zoo

   

   About fifteen years ago I took my son and his little sister to the Bronx Zoo. We got the all inclusive pass and tried to see everything. We failed. We probably saw eighty percent of the zoo in the day. The main reason for our failure was standing in lines. Our pass included a monorail ride through "Asia". We waited in that line for over a half hour. We spent a lot of time in the Congo Forest looking at the gorillas.

   Laurie and I decided to go back to the zoo this year. We specifically went the first Friday in September. The reasoning being that kids would be back in school and the place would have very few people. Also, going in September we hoped the weather would be a little cooler than the summer. We knew going on a Friday would mean commuter traffic going into New York, but we were willing to deal with that to avoid weekend zoo crowds.

   We left North Attleboro at 6:30 am. We arrived at the zoo at 10:30. We did sit in traffic in southern Connecticut for over an hour. Then when we got into the city, we missed a turn and it costed us twenty minutes as I did three rights to loop back to our original turn. Without any traffic the ride would be less than three hours. Parking is seventeen dollars. Tickets are $40 for an adult. Annoyingly, you can not get a printed zoo map. You can take a photo of maps throughout the zoo or you can download their app for a few more dollars.  Using your phone means you are dealing with the sun's glare all day. Again, for forty dollars, a paper map would have been nice.

   That is my only complaint about the Bronx Zoo. We had a picture perfect day with highs around seventy five degrees and no humidity. I guessed right and the zoo was deserted. The only people there were single moms and dads with strollers. We did buy lunch which was of course overpriced, but you are as caged as the animals so you pay it or starve. We did get the $10 souvenir cup which allowed us unlimited refills all day. 

   As for animals, I am impressed. The animals are kept in large natural enclosures with plenty of room to roam. We managed to see everything at the zoo except the Madagascar House. We could have gone in, but chose to go back to the grizzlies hoping they were awake (they were, it was a good choice)

   

   My favorite exhibits included a bird house that had Scarlet Ibis and a Roseate Spoonbill. The Spoonbill was great because I had seen one a month before in New Jersey but did not have my big lens. My other favorite exhibit was simply the bison. Even caged it made me long for seeing the west again. Watching those one ton grazers brought back memories of seeing them in South Dakota and Yellowstone. They may not be beautiful but they are majestic. 

   One surprise was a Solitary Sandpiper. It was a wild bird that I saw fly in while we were at the bison exhibit. We watched it feed in a mud puddle for ten minutes. That was probably ten minutes too long for Laurie, but I liked watching it. 

   The zoo opens at 10 am and closes at 5 pm. You need to buy a timed ticket to get in. Not really sure how this stops the spread of Covid because people spend the day, but hey, their rules. 

   We left right at 5 pm. We got stuck in bad NYC and Connecticut traffic. Our ride home took five hours. I did not expect that. Friday evening was the beginning of Labor Day weekend. I thought many places would close at noon and traffic would be dispersed throughout the day. I was wrong. We did not get up to highway speed until at least 8:30 pm. 

Solitary Sandpiper, wild