Reaching The Calgary Zoo is a wonderful experience. If you are aware of the LRT or C- Train, just get into the one which is going towards saddletowne (North East). On the way there is a station dedicated to Calgary zoo which comes just after Bridgeland / Memorial and before Barlow/Maxbell. Get down at the Calgary Zoo station and you are at the entrance of the zoo. WOW !!
The first creatures to welcome you are The Penguins at The Penguin Plunge !!. The flightless birds with an upright stance and having flippers instead of wings. What a marvelous creature ! They can walk on earth and swim gracefully in water. Their flippers help them to swim and the most important thing which I noticed was that their swim pattern (movement of flippers) was quite similar to flight of a bird. (As if Penguins fly in water !!!) . I liked the King Penguin the most and I must say that the Calgary Zoo has put up a great effort in maintaining the living conditions suitable for The Penguins.
Did I tell you they are not afraid of Humans? They give you a warm welcome, beaming with confidence with an exceptional upright gait.
The King Penguin
The Canadian Wild Section was entirely new thing to me. I encountered The Mule Deer, The BigHorn Sheep, The Rocky Mountain Goat, The Dall’s Sheep,The Grizzly Bear, The Caribou and The Muskox, to name a few. The Muskox looked closer to The Yak.
On the way to Eurasia Section we met rain and entered Kitamba Cafe to get some food and drink to keep ourselves going. When we came out of the cafe a Peacock (Peafowl) was sitting at the entrance of cafe – What an excellent Eurasian welcome was it !!
We met The two humped Bactrian Camel, One horned Rhinoceros, The Eurasian Lynx, The Japanese Macaque, The Snow Leopard, The Himalayan Monal , Amur Tigers, Wild Boar, The Markhor and The Alpine Ibex. The Monal is a bird which is colorful and the Ibex were quite close to goats. There were Fallow deer and Japanese Serow waiting for us to meet and greet. Those Deer had the most innocent eyes, I must say !!
Our next goal was The Enmax Conservatory. I did not expect such place in a zoo (they are more close to botanical gardens) but to my surprise, the conservatory had variety of Flora !!! Devil’s tongue, Queen Sago (Cycas circinalis), Flame violets, Red Betel Vine, Bananas, Sugarcane, Papaya, Red Button Costus, Pomegranate, Sacred Fig, all were there. The most fascinating was Lobster Claw. At last there was Funeral tree – I wonder how it got this name??On the other side of the green house were the butterflies and moths. They were just completing the picture.
Wait did you say I miss something? Well, yes The Flamingos. They were just awesome pinkish birds and were able to stand on their feet for a long time. It was a delight to see those birds.
The Calgary Zoo is really a big one so anyone visiting make sure to plan advance. For us, we need another visit to explore The prehistoric park and Destination Africa.
All the best Zoo-goers !!
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