I know a lot of Calgarians have plenty to complain about when it comes to living in Calgary. I have to admit that after a long cold winter I’m definitely one of those people looking on MLS searching for my new home somewhere HOT! Truthfully, however, I love Calgary. People I talk to seem to think that our summer got off to a slow start and we haven’t had any great weather. I don’t agree. We just didn’t have a spring. Blame the rotten spring everyone, leave summer alone! She’s doing her best and July has been great (according to me)! It’s true I have big hopes for August and September (don’t let me down girl), but so far if you look through my photo albums you’ll see lots of blue sky and greasy sunscreen faces.
One of my favorite parts of living in Calgary, especially during the summer, is going to the Calgary Zoo. What a treat! I’m pretty sure that no matter what the temperature is in the rest of Calgary, it’s always hotter on St. Georges Island. Maybe it’s because you are surrounded by animals from places like Africa and South America that it gives off the illusion of being warmer or maybe it’s pushing a 30lbs toddler in an equally as heavy stroller all throughout the zoo grounds. Either way, I leave feeling sweaty. :o)
I really feel fortunate to be able to show my son all different kinds of animals, fish, reptiles etc. without having to leave the city. What a great way to educate (and entertain) him about animals and when he’s older about conservation.
One of the best parts of going to the Calgary Zoo is every time you go you experience something new. On a recent trip to the Zoo with my dad we went in to see the butterflies and it was fairly quiet in the butterfly garden (unlike other times I’ve gone) and butterflies were landing on everyone (my dad included). I’m sure it happens all the time but I’d never seen so many butterflies on people before. I loved being there and felt I could stay and watch the butterflies for hours.
Have you ever seen a baby Giraffe run as fast as it can with no particular destination in mind? It’s both amusing and amazing to see. Jengo is almost 6 months old and when he was born he weighed 185lbs and was 6’6” tall! He’s all legs and on previous visits I had only seen him sitting or standing. Wow were we in for a treat this trip! It was early in the day and Jengo must be at the same stage as Ryder because he just ran around non-stop to the amusement all of us fortunate spectators. I lucked out and caught a few moments of it on video but so far downloading a video onto Blogger hasn't worked out for me. :(
Watching Jengo run around was also an enlightening moment for me. As a child who grew up in Calgary I went to the Zoo regularly. I remember the giraffes quite clearly. They had a barren patch of land with a couple of leafless trees. They always seemed so far away. The Calgary Zoo has definitely come leaps and bounds since I was little and the giraffe area is one of my favorites but until Jengo started running around I honestly had no idea how large their area was. I didn’t know they shared the field with the Zebras as well! You can get quite close to them as well at certain points along the path. Yes, definitely not the Calgary Zoo of years ago.
I could go on and on about my trips to the Zoo and could probably make it a regular blog entry about all the new things we’ve seen but seriously you don’t want to read that – you want to experience it for yourself! Plan a trip to the Calgary Zoo with your family, get an annual pass and go all year round!
:o)
