Metro Toronto Zoo

I went to the Toronto Zoo with my sister a couple of Saturdays ago. She has a family pass. In October the Zoo had a promotion where you could take a guest for free. On this particular day that guest was me.

I rarely go to the Zoo. Mostly because it costs so much. A typical adult admission is $28. The last time I went was in March of 2012. I had a voucher I bought from Groupon or one of those similar merchants.

The reason it was so cheap was because it was the off season. We pretty much saw nothing going through the African section. The only animals I saw outside there were the lions, cheetahs and hyenas.

This time it was better. We went on a partially overcast fall day. I was hoping to get a few more outdoor shots of the colourful trees, but that didn't happen. I always take such a long time taking photos and I didn't want to keep my sister waiting any longer than necessary.

We started in the Indomalaya section and went clockwise from there. While there we saw the Indian Rhinoceros, some butterflies, tigers and a couple of bored orangutans.

Next was the African Savanna section. The first animals we saw there were a young giraffe and an older one (its mother, perhaps?). We actually got there at feeding time. One of the keepers hand fed the adult, while the youngster preferred the hay placed in the feeder.

As well as the giraffes, we saw cheetahs, lions, a white rhinoceros, baboons, gazelles, zebra and hippo (among others). This section was the largest.

I have to say, we skipped the Canadian Domain... I mean, we live in Canada already. It's not like the animals there are rare and exotic.

In the Americas Outdoor exhibit we saw the flamingos and the rare Black-handed spider monkey. The flamingos were pretty. I don't know why they couldn't just fly away. The monkeys swung around a bit like monkeys tend to do.

We also saw two jaguars there. They were cute. There was a traditional tan-coloured one with black spots as well as an all-black one. They played around with each other like big house cats, rolling around and licking each other and stuff.

In the Tundra Trek section we saw the European reindeer, Arctic fox and polar bears. I believe the young bear we saw was Humphrey. He's around two-years-old I think. I first saw him a couple of years ago when he was a cub. He was really adorable then.

The second last exhibit we saw was the most special. It was the Giant Pandas. There were two of them - Er Shun (the female) and Da Mao (the male). They were kept separate. I don't know who was who.

The first one we saw was kind of far off at the back side of its pen behind some of its play apparatus. The second one was situated more in the open, walking around its pen. Everyone had a good view of it, so that was cool.

We finished off in the Australasia section. There we saw a lone Komodo dragon, some seahorse and jellyfish in the indoor section. Outdoors we saw some wallabies and kangaroos.

It was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Nice to get a walk in, see some interesting animals and take a few shots.

Visit to the Metro Toronto Zoo

Polar Bear Cub (four months old)

I visited the Zoo recently. Being the penny pincher I am, I had bought a couple of coupons from Groupon last fall for $10 each. The normal adult admission fee is $23.

Of course the catch was you had to use the coupon between late fall and late winter (when the weather is frigid and it gets dark early). The pitfalls to that are since it's freezing outside you're freezing inside and the zoo closes early.

A good deal of animals were understandably "off display". Since they didn't want to turn them all into popsicles they were kept hidden away inside. It made walking through the majority of the zoo like a walk in the park (and not in a good way). All you saw were vast empty spaces filled with the odd Canada goose hanging about here and there.

And since it gets dark earlier at this time of year, the zoo officially closes at 4:30 p.m. So you don't have much time to see the very little that is on display.

I have to say it still was alright. There were quite a few indoor pavilions (African Rainforest, Indo-Malaya and Australasia) to see. There was a Clouded Leopard and Sumatran Orangutans in the Indo-Malaya pavilions, Western Lowland Gorillas and Ring-tailed Lemurs in the African pavilion and Bennett's Wallabies, a Komodo Dragon and a variety of tropical fish in the Australasian pavilion.

As well I saw a lone tiger outside in the African Savannah section. He was in a small cage though. There also were two Lions, a couple of Hyenas and one lonely Cheetah on display outside too.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the Polar Bear cub in the Americas section. It was really cute. It actually was moving around and playing a little, unlike his parents who were napping in another section.

Still, next time, I might consider paying full price and fighting the masses when the weather is actually pleasant outside. At least then I'd get to see most of the animals that were hidden away this time.