Great Time at the Dallas Zoo

Hey neighbors!

If you have ever been in Dallas and have not visited their zoo, you are really missing out on a spectacular time.  We were able to visit the zoo while we were there and we truly enjoyed ourselves.  Some good advice here though, try to go on a weekday.  We went on a Monday and although other people were there we had no problems wandering the zoo and seeing the animals.  I spoke with a gentleman there and he said the weekend was packed.  I personally do not enjoy crowds, so I am glad we made the decision to go on Monday.  This is one large zoo!  Get prepared to go on a mini tour!

We started out by heading towards the wilds of Africa.  Before I begin with what I saw though I want to tell you that I was impressed by the cleanliness of the park and by the friendliness of the employees.  Yes, I know they are there to help, but I had at least two of them come over when they saw us and ask us some questions and share information with us.  One of them offered us a better view of the animals we were trying to see.  The other stood and actually had a 10-15 minute conversation with me about the zoo, what changes were being made, and she didn't make me feel like I was wasting her time.  She was on her break, but took time to answer some questions.  Nice!

One of the first little creatures we saw was this black and white   .  He looked so interesting as he was partaking of his breakfast.  Look at that long tail!

Another feature in the Dallas zoo is all the interesting statues they have all over.  They make for great family pictures.  I will be sharing them throughout this post as we come to them.  Here are the first ones we ran into.   My daughter wanted to pose for this one!

As you can tell we have entered the Wilds of Africa, Giants of the Savanna area.  This is where we saw the elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions and cheetahs.  My husband was fascinated with the wart hog!  I mentioned that an employee shared a bit with me about the zoo, this is one of the area she discussed.  They had enlarged the elephant area and she was telling me they had trackers on some of the elephants to monitor how far they walked.  She said previously they did not have as much room and would just pace or rock back and forth.  With the amount of room they have now, the elephants are doing almost as much walking as they do in the wilds.

Oh!  I almost forgot,we also saw the penguins and the Mandrill  on the way to the elephants.  They were just feeding the penguins, so they were very active!  It was fun to watch them diving in and out of the water.  They were so active.

Catch a glimpse of this  Mandrill .  Isn't he colorful!  We had fun watching him.  The males are the colorful ones and the females are plainer.

Next we saw the giraffes and zebras.  There were two zebras who were playing around with each other.  The employee there said that these two were always together.

You can buy food to feed the giraffes.  There is a feeding station and the giraffes will come right up to you.

After that we saw the big cats.  The cheetah and lions.  I personally enjoy cheetahs.

My husband thought the warthog was unique looking!

After visiting an aviary, right next to the crocodiles we continued on in the zoo.  We searched for the gorilla and could not find him.  There are several places where you can try the view, but apparently he was hiding.  We did manage to catch him later in the day. While strolling we managed to take a few family pictures.

One animal I definitely wanted to see was the Koala.  We finished this side of the zoo and headed to the other side.  One of the first things we saw were some beautiful flamingos.  Their coloring was so bright!

After visiting a few more animals we headed to the koala, kangaroo and kookaburra.

The last place we visited was the children's section.  They have a really, nice play area set up for your children to relax in.  There is a little area with little streams of water where they can walk through and cool off.  There are donkeys, sheep, goats, and even a few chickens.

Would we go again?  Yes, we definitely would.  The Dallas Zoo is well worth your visit!  If you live in or around the Dallas area or are passing through, try to add the Dallas Zoo to your schedule. Oh, before I forget, here is the gorilla!

There are several areas of the zoo that I did not include pictures of.  This would have been a huge post if I included all of them.  Thank you all for stopping by and enjoying part of our trip!  See you soon neighbors!

The Dallas Zoo is open from 9:00-4:00 pm daily.
Adults ages 12-64 are $12
Children ages 3-11 are $9
Seniors ages 65 and up are $9
Children 2 and under are free
Parking is $8 per vehicle
All prices are subject to change.



Be sure to stop by their website and read the history of the Dallas Zoo.  They actually began in 1888 when a man from Colorado offered to sell two deer and two mountain lions to the city of Dallas.  They were purchased for $60 and placed in pens in the City Park.  I find that very interesting.  You can read more on their site.

I want my neighbors to know, my entire family was impressed by the Dallas Zoo.  It is well worth your time and the price for entry.  So, plan a day to go and enjoy the Dallas Zoo with your family!

Disclosure:I received no monetary compensation for this post.  I did receive passes to the Dallas Zoo.  All quotes in red are taken from the sponsor's email or website.  All thoughts and opinions are mine.