Thursday, January 3, 2013

Monarto Zoo

Boxing Day we made our way home after spending christmas with Bretts family north of Adelaide. On the way back we spent a couple of hours at the Monarto Zoo, about 15 minutes out of Murray Bridge. I had a sore and puffy foot still(I got spider bitten two days before christmas), so was apprehensive, but knowing they had buses to ferry us around in made me feel better. Plus Brett had built Izzy up and she was asking when we were seeing the animals as soon as we took off from his sisters house. How could we disappoint her?!

I got as many photos as I could, we didn't take the pram in and frankly it would have been a hassle having to fold it up every time we got on a bus. We went on about four different buses, or was it five, and I was usually holding Summer trying to take one handed photos with my camera, easier said than done! 

White Rhino and baby, amazing!
This was the final fence of three to get into the carnivores section, where the lions were, triple assurance they don't escape, which is comforting, they were huge! Note the sign on the fence, it's someones idea of a joke. The volunteer guide doing the talking at the front of the bus reckons it's because the lions don't like it when the spokes get stuck in their teeth. Boom tish!
Nought to eighty kilometres per hour in three seconds. Vision of up to five kilometres. Amazing creature. Not one I would like to come across in the wild, but apparently you can have a cheetah experience and get right in their enclosure with a guide if you're brave enough.
Sitting on a bus watching another bus full of eager zoo goers. The size of the zoo grounds when you look at this is astounding. It is fantastic to see the animals have so much room to roam. I am with the firm belief that is why, as opposed to a "cage" zoo, the animals grow to such huge sizes like the lions and this american bison. The photo doesn't do justice to how massive this animal is, it was HUGE! 
Who knew there were different types of zebras? They have two varieties at the zoo. This one is the Chapmans zebra. 

Monarto currently has eighteen giraffes! They all weren't on display, they are trying to keep the boys away from the girls, they are too good at breeding, there were about nine that I could see. You could get off at the bus stops and have a look around, this was at the giraffe section, there was a walking trail that ended on a raised platform so we had a great view. 

When we made it back to the start my foot was aching so I sat with Summer in the cafe and Brett took Izzy for a short walk to see the chimpanzees. Izzy was funny, showing me how the chimps jumped around and telling me how cute the baby one was. I'm sorry I missed the baby one. We had a fantastic time, so glad we went.


19 comments:

  1. That looks like a nice zoo. Sorry that the spider bite took the shine off the day, but you must have been glad you went. We are super lucky and live walking distance from our zoo, which makes it an easy dropping option at short notice, love the zoo :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We love going to zoos too. I soldiered on with my bite, I had it all through christmas, not much I could do.

      Delete
  2. I have a girlfriend that grew up in Murray Bridge, and I've been there many a time over the years, but I never knew there was such a big zoo there! Who'd have thought!
    Sorry to hear about the spider bite. It's making me cringe just thinking about it. Obviously I'm not a fan of spiders. Hope it heals quickly for you :)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not a fan of spiders either, darn things. It is much better now, thanks.

      Delete
  3. What an awesome day out. What is it about tour guides? Even the non-parent ones make the worst dad jokes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great photos Alicia- despite baby in arm!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely looking Zoo, how great to be able to get so nice and close to the animals like that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Spider bite? How unlucky is that? Thanks for the zoo tour. It looks like you guys had a wonderful day and your one handed photos are pretty darn good. The closest thing we have to something like that is Western Plains zoo in Dubbo - a mere 6 hour drive away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unlucky yeah. It happened the day before christmas eve, but didn't get really bad until monday arvo. Not all of them were one handed, I did quickly hand Summer over to Brett to get most of them. Haven't been to Dubbo zoo, but Werribee near Melbourne is good, they have a bus ride too.

      Delete
  7. We have taken the twins to the small wildlife park close to our home, but we havn't ventured to the big zoo yet. I can't wait as I know they will love it. But I think we will wait until they are just a little older.
    Looks like you had a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 18 giraffes?! Wow! What an awesome place! I love giraffes. They always astound me when I see them.
    So sorry to hear about your foot. Sounds so painful! Take care x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know I was quite surprised when the guide said 18! Foot was painful, don't recommend it!

      Delete
  9. Great photos Alicia. I would love to take my brood to a zoo but I haven't had the courage yet - hopefully we will get a chance (and develop the courage!) to do so before the kids return to school.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you get to a zoo soon, we love it and I'm sure your brood will too :)

      Delete
  10. I had not heard of that zoo! We went to Adelaide two years ago for a holiday and did the Adelaide Zoo (and saw your lovely pandas) but I had not heard of this one. Next time.
    Great pictures.
    Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Alicia, Happy New Year, thanks for visiting my site. I've been to Taronga Zoo in the past and that was where i see my first flamingo. I love zoo's where animals have wide spaces as if they are not really confined in captivation. I haven't been to your area though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great zoo shots. Happy New Year.


    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now this is my idea of what all Zoo's should be like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have been to a couple of open range zoos now. They are fantastic :)

      Delete

Thanks for so much visiting, and even more so for leaving a friendly comment!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...