Gypsies At Heart: The Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX

Stanley Crane, Southern Africa

This morning we were the last ones on the Winter Ranch bus. We had 9:30 on the calendar and it was really 9:00 AM. Luckily, we left early so we weren't too late but they were ready to leave when we got there.

Our first stop was in Brownsville at the SAS shoes outlet store. Neither of us planned to buy anything but I made the mistake of trying on some black sandals and they felt great and fit me perfectly. Lee was sold because if I can find a pair of shoes after trying on just two, he doesn't care what they cost!! So, I have a new pair of comfy shoes.

Next we stopped for lunch at the Golden Corral. We tried not to eat too much but their food was really good. The mashed potatoes were even the real thing! I only had one small dessert because we just finished off all the Christmas goodies that had piled up and so it is time to forget about dessert for awhile.

Love that Zookeeper!

Flamingos

After lunch we all waddled back to the bus and headed for the zoo. We had never been here before so we were pleasantly surprised. The zoo is laid out really well and the exhibits are all nice and clean. Many of the animals have a lot of room to roam. There is a canal that runs through the zoo and makes little islands for some of the animals and there are boardwalks so that you can walk around them. We watched as a zoo keeper came down the canal in a boat picking up palm branches and then stopping by feeding areas to feed the animals. It was fun watching them get fed.

Blue Bellie Roller

Scarlet Ibises and Roseate Spoonbill

Marabou Stork, Africa

Mongolian Duck

I particularly liked the bird aviary where they had scarlet ibises, a red-headed cardinal, a blue-bellied roller, mongolian ducks and more. However, there wasn't much not to like - the zoo was very nice to walk though and and we really liked the canals and boardwalks around islands of monkeys or other animals.

Gorilla

Sun Bear from SE Asia

What do you think he is thinking?


Don't know what this is?

We weren't the last people on the bus but we sure thought we would be. We were supposed to be back at the bus between 2 and 2:30. We got there about 2:20 and raced all the way there. We came to a sign that said Exit. Unfortunately, it pointed both directions and we took the longest route back! It was good to sit on the bus for awhile after all the walking and racing to get back!