FORT SILL, Okla. -- Have you ever seen a baby giraffe? Let me tell you, my own baby is pretty adorable but a baby giraffe just might give him a run for his money. I know this for a fact because I took my husband and kids to the Oklahoma City Zoo and did a side-by-side comparison of the two. On one side, a very fashionably dressed but loudly screaming and sippy-cup throwing 18-month old. On the other side, sporting authentic animal print, eating silently and not throwing anything, a baby giraffe. It's not even a contest.
The Oklahoma City Zoo (and botanical garden) is about an hour away from Fort Sill and in Oklahoma City's Adventure District, which is home to a number of attractions including a few museums, a few halls of fame, and Remington Park. While the parking lot was a bit packed, it's free and the admission into the zoo is extremely affordable (even without a military discount, which they do give) making it a perfect trip for a money-tight family.
We decided to go on a Monday and despite it being a weekday we were surprised to see just how full the zoo was, which I suppose made sense, like I said, the zoo is very affordable. You are allowed to take food into the zoo, so we packed up an insulated cooler with plenty of food and drink to keep everyone happy for the day.
I've been to some of the best zoos in the nation. I'm from Fort Worth, Texas, and have been to their nationally-ranked zoo often along with visiting the Dallas zoo (their rankings vary depending on who creates the list but they are often in the top 10 or 20). I've also played with a seal at the St. Louis zoo (which often ranks in the top five for the nation) and fed a walrus at the zoo in Seoul, South Korea (the 10th largest zoo in the world). My standards are pretty high, but I did my best to keep my expectations reasonable.
Everyone had something they wanted to see, I wanted to see sea lions and seals (I love water mammals), they wanted to see regular lions, tigers and the playground. Since I'm the mom, we started with the water show.
Strollers were not permitted into the show and I was a bit hesitant about leaving my stroller where anyone could snatch it, but after shoving my worries away (and bringing our valuables in with us) we found seats in the theater. The show was as fun as it was informative. The seals and sea lions performed their fun tricks while an announcer shared about their history, diet, natural environment and behavior. I learned that Addie, a California sea lion, is a fantastic artist and that Zander, a 500-pound California seal, was once a rescued youngster. His mother left him on the beach and he was taken in and raised by hand.
Then we saw the lions, a tiger (who was right up close to the window under a rock looking quite majestic) and walked past the playground (we could play later, we were here to see animals). We walked through the children's zoo where you can pet animals and saw everything that slinks or slithers but my favorite was, surprisingly, the Oklahoma Trails Adventure area.
The Oklahoma Trails Adven-ture area showcases animals native to Oklahoma and creates a replica of their environment. There is an entire barn that houses bats and owls. The bats' exhibit has clear panels on three sides allowing viewers to walk around and watch as the bats fly. Outside you can see bears, cougars (which are much larger cats than I imagined) and my favorite, the Mexican gray wolf.
Now I've been a fan of wolves for much longer than Game of Thrones made them popular, so I'm always excited to see a wolf. This particular wolf had added appeal because he had a whole rabbit in his mouth. The group that stood around to watch him was unsure if he caught the rabbit or if it was given to him washed and ready to eat. Either way it was still fascinating to see the wolf carry his prey, find a good spot and dig a hole to bury the rabbit in, all under the watchful eyes of the deer in the area adjacent.
After a good four hours we decided it was best we head home. We'd pilfered our little cooler of snacks and were looking forward to stopping by Sonic on our way out for some much needed refreshment. I was hopeful the two children in the backseat would fall asleep on the way home but no such luck. My not-as-cute-as-a-baby giraffe son continued to throw his sippy cup while the older wanted to tell riddles and jokes on the way back. The car was loud and untamed. And even a bit smelly.
Looks like some of the wild got into my family. I guess we had a successful trip. Head out there and get wild yourself.
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