Taronga Zoo

On January 14^th, Roman & I decided to spend the day at Taronga Zoo, located in northern Sydney. Taking the ferry is the best method of transportation because you avoid traffic congestion, only costs $10.40AUS in total, and the boat drops you off near the zoo gates. As well, you receive a beautiful panoramic view of the city, especially the Sydney Opera House.

The zoo sits on several plateaus so when you disembark, you have to choose between walking up to the rear entrance or taking a free bus ride. Student admission costs $23AUS. The zoo was bustling with many schoolchildren on summer vacation. Since we arrived at around noon, Roman & I decided to eat before exploring the exhibits. While we ate pricey nachos & pizza, a smart & curios Ibis bird walked around the eating area, cleaning up any left over food that fell to the floor.

Taronga Zoo is divided into four sections: Australia/NZ, Africa, Asia, and Antarctic. Each section then divides into several enclosed enclaves for the animals from that part of the world, as well as preventing the predators from eating the vegetarian exhibits. Should you have extra money-to-burn, the zoo offers visitors to photograph you feeding and/or holding giraffes, koalas, and small penguins, just to name a few.

Lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, kangaroos, mountain goats, emus, cranes, deer, elephants, fish, seals, monkeys, chimps, meerkats, hippos, ostriches, crocs, gators, lizards, pelicans, ducks, bats . . . there’s more but that’s all the animals I can remember seeing at Taronga.

On a more descriptive level: the tigers & lions were sleeping; the kangaroos were hopping all around except for a loner in a corner; hundreds of ducks were bathing in water; pelicans were trying to look pretty; the hippos needed toilet paper & air freshener; a mountain goat posed on a makeshift plateau; the crocs lied motionless in their pond; and the penguins annoyed my brother by never staying still for a photo. (That has to be the longest BLOG sentence I have written thus far).

In the late afternoon, Roman & I attended a short spider demo where a zoo staffer talked about common & dangerous spiders found in the Australian outback. The demo would have been better if he had talked less & showed more than 3 spiders. Before the demo began, a rather large emu sat nearby in the shade. I was able to snap a lucky picture before she somehow disappeared without me noticing. I’m guessing she got up and walked away while I was paying attention to the demo.

Roman & I photographed the distant Sydney cityscape before being asked to leave the zoo – it was closing time. In total, I had taken 45 pictures. We caught the ferry back to the city centre and headed off to a pub for a beer break. After that, we headed back to Lewisham for a proper dinner.

If you happen to be visiting Sydney in the future, pay a visit to the city’s zoo and enjoy what it has to offer. Be prepared to walk because there’s a lot to see and best to visit on a sunny day.

To Be Continued . . .