Jan 16 - Waco Zoo

Since I no longer have a car, my dad had the pleasure of taking me back to school for the spring semester.  On the way, we went through Waco and stopped by their zoo (parents have a season pass).  It was a really nice break to the drive and while kinda chilly, it was a beautiful day to spend outside, one last break before my school semester began.

The alligators were sleeping right up against the glass underwater which made them look huge and menacing.

I loved going in mid-morning because all the animals were so awake and active.  It's a lot more fun to watch animals that run and play and interact with you than sleeping animals.

The deer shared their space with a couple of turkeys... here they kept staring because one of the turkeys was trying to make an escape.

The Suicidal Turkey, about to jump - don't do it! :D We ended up getting a zoo keeper over to make sure the turkey stayed inside the fence.  No runaways today.

The Waco Zoo wasn't overly large, but it was one of the prettiest zoos I've seen (and believe me, I've seen a lot of zoos).  You can tell that a lot of forethought went into the planning and design of the park, making the scenery just as fun to look at as the animals.

An example of such neat planning, they had bridges cross right over the giraffe enclosures so you were practically at their eye-level.  That is a really interesting viewpoint, because generally you always end up looking high above you to see them.

I've never seen the lions so active before.  They were walking, playing, and wrestling right by the windows, and roaring really loud.  I never realized how big they were or how loud they could be until today... very cool and kinda scary at the same time.

(seen on the way from Waco to College Station) We're definitely arriving in Aggie territory now, lol.