Once I got myself settled into Dallas I was glad to discover there were two animal-related attractions nearby I would be able to visit. I'm always a big fan of zoos and aquariums, or just even a regular pet shop, but my focus while in town was going to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Dallas Zoo. The first stop on my two-day animal tour was going to be the Dallas World Aquarium.
When I see the word aquarium I'm usually under the impression that the place would be geared towards water-related creatures such as sharks, fishes, penguins, etc. As I approached this aquarium and noticed a large glass building, I figured this was going to be the case. The entrance fee was twenty-one dollars, which I felt was somewhat step than normal zoo prices, but I marched on. Once getting inside I saw a display for a couple of birds and a tree-kangaroo, who was a little camera shy place his hands over his head. Then I thought to myself, maybe this isn't just for animals that live underwater. As I reached inside the main area I was surprised to see a giant indoor rain forest with four floors, and a basement, of attractions. The way the aquarium is designed is visitors enter and start at the top, then as they make their rounds to see all the animals it leads them towards the ground level, to the basement, and finally out the exit. The inside is also a botantical garden with trees, plants, flowers, and a giant man-made waterfall right in the middle. One of the more bizarre animals I encountered was the anteater. It paced in circles and made continous efforts to unearth any ants, that thing must only sleep and look for ants with its life. I never actually saw one up close like that, so it was certainly a great early surprise.
The top floor mainly featured a variety of birds and monkeys, plus a sloth, that was sleeping in a tree naturally. There was one special bird exhibit in which a worker would hand you a berry and you could stick your hand in the cage to feed it. This floor also featured a small concession stand that served snacks as well as beer. It was one of those moments where I knew I was not in New York anymore. Although its a family-orientated place, it is possible to get drunk and walk around with the animals, which could lead to very interesting occurances. Perhaps in Texas people have a little more self-control. There's probably good reasons why there's beer at this aquarium and not beer served at zoos in New York. As I pushed onward there was a great river-otter display in which you can see otters both above water and when they swim underwater. Towards the middle section there were more assortments of birds, plus reptiles such as snakes, turtles, and lizards. One creepy display was a darkened room that had vampire bats. Some where hanging upside down in the man-made cave structure, while others fluttered around. When I reached the ground level it brought me to the bottom of the waterfall where I noticed a swan trying to guide her little youngings through the splashing water.
The was a staircase leading downward, but at first I wasn't sure if that was for employees only or if there were more displays in the basement. Once I saw a couple of other visitors go down there, I went down to follow them and was greeted with a massive underwater tank that featured water turtles, gigantic fish, and a sea lion swimming around. Another great attraction downstairs were these giant wall displays of underwater sea life from different parts of the world, such as Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, etc. The displays had colorful coral reef rock structures with amazing looking plant life growing off them. There's one area in which you step outside momentarily to see the penguins, but its just them out there, then you have to go back inside to see the remaining exhibits. One neat feature they built down there was an underground glass tunnel that has sharks swimming above you and on both sides. Unlike the typical view of a shark from the side or from above, this 3D view brings a new way of seeing sharks without having to be in the water with them to see them. In keeping in shark tradition, I made sure to give one my middle-finger when i had the opportunity. What makes this aquarium unique is that it doesn't limit sections to one type of creature only. You'll find a bird right next to a turtle, and next to that would be a rodent, and then next to that would be lizard (probably wishing it could find a way in the rodent's tank).
They certainly save the best for last that this aquarium. When I figured I seen just about everything there is to see, I turn my head and noticed a leopard sitting in a giant glass display with a crowd of onlookers. Walking closer towards it, I was able to take notice of its shiny fur coat as it groomed itself with it's tongue. I couldn't recall if I ever saw a leopard in person before, this and the anteater were certainly first-timers. Just before the exit door there some nice colorful flamingos, so they're not as nearly as impressive after seeing the leopard up close and personal. With the Dallas World Aquarium now seemingly a bargain at twenty-one dollars, the first phase of the animal marathon was complete, and the following day's mission was the Dallas Zoo. It was located further outside the downtown Dallas area than the aquarium was, so I needed to take a DART train ride that lasted about four or five stops. The weather was overcast when I left the hotel, and by the time I reached the zoo it had started raining lightly. Since I wouldn't be able to put it off for some other time, I had to march forward. The entrance fee was only fifteen dollars, which is quite reasonable compared to other zoo prices these days.
The fact the weather was bad and that it was in the middle of the week, the place was a virtual ghost town. I did notice a few mothers with their kids as well as a couple of class trips roaming around, but really the zoo was empty and I would have all the animals to myself. I always find it annoying when I have to look over people to see something, or can watch something at my own pace cause there's people coming up behind me. Having a large zoo with nobody else around is almost a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn't wait to get started. After some initial lemars and flamingos, the first main attraction are the penguins. Alot of these were fresh in my head from seeing them at the aquarium the day before, but I didn't mind those replays. Next was the African sufari area with the king of the jungle, the lion, or should I saw lions, on display. The two of them were play fighting with eachother, but as the rainfall grew harder, they ran for cover under a canopy the zoo built for them. As I was giving the lions my undivided attention, in the corner of my eye I saw something watching me. I turned my head right and there was a cheetah just looking at me viewing the lions. For a moment I couldn't tell if it was curious at what I doing, or if it was jealous that it wasn't getting any attention. I motioned to go towards it and it took off running somewhere. The rain at this point was starting to come down rather hard.
There was something about the cheetah that was very intruiging, so I walked in the rain and made my way over to the other end of its display to see it also covering itself from the rain. Luckily for me, it's cover area was next to a window I was able to sit down next to. At first it growled at me, but after a few moments it didn't care anymore that I was in it's presence. I was nose-to-nose with this predatory cat as the both of us were huddled up and seeking cover from the rain. Being next to the giant cat had a very calming effect and I stayed there for nearly fifteen minutes while I drank my lemonade and shielded myself from the rain. Then a terrible thing happened, one of the class trip groups came by and saw the cheetah up close to the window. I stood up and walked aside because I knew what was coming next, they all ran up to it which made the cheetah draw its fangs. The both of us were very unhappy at the kids for ruining the whole thing. The cheetah took off for a while and the kids eventually got bored and left. I hung around for a few minutes because I knew the cheetah would be back for its cover spot, and it did return. By this time the cheetah was sleepy, so as it started to nod off I decided it was time to move on unfortunately.
It was around lunch time and I needed an good excuse to get out of the rain, so I went into the African safari cafe. Since I was in Texas, I figured why not have some bbq. I went with the beef brisket sandwich which was slices of beef smothered in sweet bbq sauce on toasted white bread. Although it was only a sandwich, it by far the best-tasting food I had while staying in Dallas. I ate the sandwich slowly so I could stretch as much joy out of it as possible. The rain wasn't going away and I couldn't stay in the cafe forever, so I ran quickly over to the elephant area. Never before have I been this close to elephants than how it was structured at the Dallas Zoo. There was one point where some elephants were bathing themselves that I felt I could've reached out and touched one. The rest of the zoo had the same feeling, they put you right up front and close with the animals. Certainly another moment when I realized I wasn't in New York. At times, I felt I could've just put a penguin in a backpack and walked out. Only one time did I see a Dallas PD officer walking around, who looked like he was days from retirement, plus a couple of zoo employees, but it was as dead empty as a zoo could get.
One animal that wouldn't fit into a backpack was the gorilla, who wasn't too thrilled seeing me in his area. It pounded its chest like King Kong once it saw me and took off for another area. I had to jog over to the entire other side to see where it was hiding, and I found it leaning against the glass while snacking on some plants. It really wasn't fit for company as it punched the window near me and took off again. This gorilla had a poor attitude and was in no way as inviting as the cheetah. Even though a Texas winter isn't like the northeast, since it still was winter some of the animals weren't out due to the season. I reached the meerkat section and saw there were none of them around. Were the meerkats also not on display due to the season? Moments later a saw a head pop out of the log, there was my answer. Two of them kept popping out of a log, then running back to get in on the other side, to just repeat the process over and over again. I would've like to have taken the monorail ride, but due to the rain that one was definately shut down for the day. My clothes were getting wet and my body started to shiver, of course I picked this day to go out without a jacket.
I had seen the lions, the cheetah, and the day before a leopard, what was missing was a tiger. I passed by a crane, a vulture, a few different types of monkeys, in route to see the tiger. Perhaps they don't keep it out in the winter or maybe it was sleeping under a rock, but it was nowhere to be found. There was a cougar elsewhere, but the tiger would've been the real cherry on top. I needed to get indoors to try off and was delighted to see the reptile house not far ahead. Once I got inside I let the warm air dry my chilly bones. Although it was a reptile house featuring turtles, lizards, frogs, and alligators, at the Dallas Zoo the reptile focus is snakes. There had just about every snake imaginable on display. For the king cobra, they created a mock India-style home and had the cobra slithering on the floor. My biggest thrill was having a chance to see the black mamba, which is about the most lethal poisonous snake on the planet. The color of it is a light brown, but the reason its called a black mamba is because when it opens it's mouth, the inside it all black. At that point if you're seeing the black of that snake's mouth, there's a good chance you'll be dead a short while later. I went to take a picture of it as it faced me directly and either the flash upset it or something, because when I looked back at the picture it had opened it's mouth for me to display the blackness inside it's mouth. Perhaps the zoo trained it to strike a pose when people start snapping pictures.
When I left the reptile house I noticed the rain had stopped thankfully and it was getting quite near closing time, so my next stop was going to be the bird section. The offical bird of the United States, the bald eagle, managed to go to the bathroom as soon as it saw me. There were other eagles, vultures, and even a bluejay, which is common in the northeastern part of the county, but I guess in Texas its a zoo attraction. My last stop before leaving the zoo was the children's zoo area. In this part there's pony rides, goats to feed, but the best is the walk-in bird hut. As soon as I got in, a bird flew onto my shoulder and went onto my finger. A minute later a nice lady who works with the birds came out to give me the grand tour. She informed me that the bird who flew on me is named Christine, plus she gave me background information about the rest of the birds that were inside. Another couple of workers came out to feed the birds since it was almost closing time, and they let me join in. They gave me meal worms to put in the palm of my hands, and within seconds birds were flying all on my arms and hands to get at them. With the bird feeding and the cheetah it turned out to be a great zoo experience!!
The only bad part was I wasn't able to walk out with a penguin...
When I see the word aquarium I'm usually under the impression that the place would be geared towards water-related creatures such as sharks, fishes, penguins, etc. As I approached this aquarium and noticed a large glass building, I figured this was going to be the case. The entrance fee was twenty-one dollars, which I felt was somewhat step than normal zoo prices, but I marched on. Once getting inside I saw a display for a couple of birds and a tree-kangaroo, who was a little camera shy place his hands over his head. Then I thought to myself, maybe this isn't just for animals that live underwater. As I reached inside the main area I was surprised to see a giant indoor rain forest with four floors, and a basement, of attractions. The way the aquarium is designed is visitors enter and start at the top, then as they make their rounds to see all the animals it leads them towards the ground level, to the basement, and finally out the exit. The inside is also a botantical garden with trees, plants, flowers, and a giant man-made waterfall right in the middle. One of the more bizarre animals I encountered was the anteater. It paced in circles and made continous efforts to unearth any ants, that thing must only sleep and look for ants with its life. I never actually saw one up close like that, so it was certainly a great early surprise.
The top floor mainly featured a variety of birds and monkeys, plus a sloth, that was sleeping in a tree naturally. There was one special bird exhibit in which a worker would hand you a berry and you could stick your hand in the cage to feed it. This floor also featured a small concession stand that served snacks as well as beer. It was one of those moments where I knew I was not in New York anymore. Although its a family-orientated place, it is possible to get drunk and walk around with the animals, which could lead to very interesting occurances. Perhaps in Texas people have a little more self-control. There's probably good reasons why there's beer at this aquarium and not beer served at zoos in New York. As I pushed onward there was a great river-otter display in which you can see otters both above water and when they swim underwater. Towards the middle section there were more assortments of birds, plus reptiles such as snakes, turtles, and lizards. One creepy display was a darkened room that had vampire bats. Some where hanging upside down in the man-made cave structure, while others fluttered around. When I reached the ground level it brought me to the bottom of the waterfall where I noticed a swan trying to guide her little youngings through the splashing water.
The was a staircase leading downward, but at first I wasn't sure if that was for employees only or if there were more displays in the basement. Once I saw a couple of other visitors go down there, I went down to follow them and was greeted with a massive underwater tank that featured water turtles, gigantic fish, and a sea lion swimming around. Another great attraction downstairs were these giant wall displays of underwater sea life from different parts of the world, such as Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, etc. The displays had colorful coral reef rock structures with amazing looking plant life growing off them. There's one area in which you step outside momentarily to see the penguins, but its just them out there, then you have to go back inside to see the remaining exhibits. One neat feature they built down there was an underground glass tunnel that has sharks swimming above you and on both sides. Unlike the typical view of a shark from the side or from above, this 3D view brings a new way of seeing sharks without having to be in the water with them to see them. In keeping in shark tradition, I made sure to give one my middle-finger when i had the opportunity. What makes this aquarium unique is that it doesn't limit sections to one type of creature only. You'll find a bird right next to a turtle, and next to that would be a rodent, and then next to that would be lizard (probably wishing it could find a way in the rodent's tank).
They certainly save the best for last that this aquarium. When I figured I seen just about everything there is to see, I turn my head and noticed a leopard sitting in a giant glass display with a crowd of onlookers. Walking closer towards it, I was able to take notice of its shiny fur coat as it groomed itself with it's tongue. I couldn't recall if I ever saw a leopard in person before, this and the anteater were certainly first-timers. Just before the exit door there some nice colorful flamingos, so they're not as nearly as impressive after seeing the leopard up close and personal. With the Dallas World Aquarium now seemingly a bargain at twenty-one dollars, the first phase of the animal marathon was complete, and the following day's mission was the Dallas Zoo. It was located further outside the downtown Dallas area than the aquarium was, so I needed to take a DART train ride that lasted about four or five stops. The weather was overcast when I left the hotel, and by the time I reached the zoo it had started raining lightly. Since I wouldn't be able to put it off for some other time, I had to march forward. The entrance fee was only fifteen dollars, which is quite reasonable compared to other zoo prices these days.
The fact the weather was bad and that it was in the middle of the week, the place was a virtual ghost town. I did notice a few mothers with their kids as well as a couple of class trips roaming around, but really the zoo was empty and I would have all the animals to myself. I always find it annoying when I have to look over people to see something, or can watch something at my own pace cause there's people coming up behind me. Having a large zoo with nobody else around is almost a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn't wait to get started. After some initial lemars and flamingos, the first main attraction are the penguins. Alot of these were fresh in my head from seeing them at the aquarium the day before, but I didn't mind those replays. Next was the African sufari area with the king of the jungle, the lion, or should I saw lions, on display. The two of them were play fighting with eachother, but as the rainfall grew harder, they ran for cover under a canopy the zoo built for them. As I was giving the lions my undivided attention, in the corner of my eye I saw something watching me. I turned my head right and there was a cheetah just looking at me viewing the lions. For a moment I couldn't tell if it was curious at what I doing, or if it was jealous that it wasn't getting any attention. I motioned to go towards it and it took off running somewhere. The rain at this point was starting to come down rather hard.
There was something about the cheetah that was very intruiging, so I walked in the rain and made my way over to the other end of its display to see it also covering itself from the rain. Luckily for me, it's cover area was next to a window I was able to sit down next to. At first it growled at me, but after a few moments it didn't care anymore that I was in it's presence. I was nose-to-nose with this predatory cat as the both of us were huddled up and seeking cover from the rain. Being next to the giant cat had a very calming effect and I stayed there for nearly fifteen minutes while I drank my lemonade and shielded myself from the rain. Then a terrible thing happened, one of the class trip groups came by and saw the cheetah up close to the window. I stood up and walked aside because I knew what was coming next, they all ran up to it which made the cheetah draw its fangs. The both of us were very unhappy at the kids for ruining the whole thing. The cheetah took off for a while and the kids eventually got bored and left. I hung around for a few minutes because I knew the cheetah would be back for its cover spot, and it did return. By this time the cheetah was sleepy, so as it started to nod off I decided it was time to move on unfortunately.
It was around lunch time and I needed an good excuse to get out of the rain, so I went into the African safari cafe. Since I was in Texas, I figured why not have some bbq. I went with the beef brisket sandwich which was slices of beef smothered in sweet bbq sauce on toasted white bread. Although it was only a sandwich, it by far the best-tasting food I had while staying in Dallas. I ate the sandwich slowly so I could stretch as much joy out of it as possible. The rain wasn't going away and I couldn't stay in the cafe forever, so I ran quickly over to the elephant area. Never before have I been this close to elephants than how it was structured at the Dallas Zoo. There was one point where some elephants were bathing themselves that I felt I could've reached out and touched one. The rest of the zoo had the same feeling, they put you right up front and close with the animals. Certainly another moment when I realized I wasn't in New York. At times, I felt I could've just put a penguin in a backpack and walked out. Only one time did I see a Dallas PD officer walking around, who looked like he was days from retirement, plus a couple of zoo employees, but it was as dead empty as a zoo could get.
One animal that wouldn't fit into a backpack was the gorilla, who wasn't too thrilled seeing me in his area. It pounded its chest like King Kong once it saw me and took off for another area. I had to jog over to the entire other side to see where it was hiding, and I found it leaning against the glass while snacking on some plants. It really wasn't fit for company as it punched the window near me and took off again. This gorilla had a poor attitude and was in no way as inviting as the cheetah. Even though a Texas winter isn't like the northeast, since it still was winter some of the animals weren't out due to the season. I reached the meerkat section and saw there were none of them around. Were the meerkats also not on display due to the season? Moments later a saw a head pop out of the log, there was my answer. Two of them kept popping out of a log, then running back to get in on the other side, to just repeat the process over and over again. I would've like to have taken the monorail ride, but due to the rain that one was definately shut down for the day. My clothes were getting wet and my body started to shiver, of course I picked this day to go out without a jacket.
I had seen the lions, the cheetah, and the day before a leopard, what was missing was a tiger. I passed by a crane, a vulture, a few different types of monkeys, in route to see the tiger. Perhaps they don't keep it out in the winter or maybe it was sleeping under a rock, but it was nowhere to be found. There was a cougar elsewhere, but the tiger would've been the real cherry on top. I needed to get indoors to try off and was delighted to see the reptile house not far ahead. Once I got inside I let the warm air dry my chilly bones. Although it was a reptile house featuring turtles, lizards, frogs, and alligators, at the Dallas Zoo the reptile focus is snakes. There had just about every snake imaginable on display. For the king cobra, they created a mock India-style home and had the cobra slithering on the floor. My biggest thrill was having a chance to see the black mamba, which is about the most lethal poisonous snake on the planet. The color of it is a light brown, but the reason its called a black mamba is because when it opens it's mouth, the inside it all black. At that point if you're seeing the black of that snake's mouth, there's a good chance you'll be dead a short while later. I went to take a picture of it as it faced me directly and either the flash upset it or something, because when I looked back at the picture it had opened it's mouth for me to display the blackness inside it's mouth. Perhaps the zoo trained it to strike a pose when people start snapping pictures.
When I left the reptile house I noticed the rain had stopped thankfully and it was getting quite near closing time, so my next stop was going to be the bird section. The offical bird of the United States, the bald eagle, managed to go to the bathroom as soon as it saw me. There were other eagles, vultures, and even a bluejay, which is common in the northeastern part of the county, but I guess in Texas its a zoo attraction. My last stop before leaving the zoo was the children's zoo area. In this part there's pony rides, goats to feed, but the best is the walk-in bird hut. As soon as I got in, a bird flew onto my shoulder and went onto my finger. A minute later a nice lady who works with the birds came out to give me the grand tour. She informed me that the bird who flew on me is named Christine, plus she gave me background information about the rest of the birds that were inside. Another couple of workers came out to feed the birds since it was almost closing time, and they let me join in. They gave me meal worms to put in the palm of my hands, and within seconds birds were flying all on my arms and hands to get at them. With the bird feeding and the cheetah it turned out to be a great zoo experience!!
The only bad part was I wasn't able to walk out with a penguin...
No comments:
Post a Comment