We departed the school around 9am. All of the students were loaded onto district school buses and all of the parents followed in their own personal vehicles. We arrived at the zoo around 9:30 am, met up with our groups and once the gates were opened and we were granted entrance we were able to split up and explore the zoo at our own leisure keeping in mind that we were scheduled to meet the rest of the group again for 11:30 for lunch then at 1:15 to depart unless we wished to sign our child out with the teacher at the zoo. This of course meant that we could stay and finish our tour after every one else had gone back to the school. Our only rules for the field trip were that we may be asked to chaperon an additional child whose parents could not attend; students were not allowed to purchase anything from the gift shops; and students were not permitted to ride any of the rides available at the zoo (this way no child would be left out and no one would have hurt feelings).
So with our group all together and another group joining us we set off. The kids were really excited and wanted to quickly get over to the new zoo exhibit "Giants of the Savannah". Of course on our way there we had to make a few stops just because you can't walk past an exhibit without peering in nor can you pass up the opportunity to take some really cute photos.
On our way to Giants of the Savannah:
The first thing the kids noticed here was the baboons rainbow colored butt! LOL
When we finally reached the entrance to the Giants of the Savannah of course we first had to stop and take some photos of the kids on the elephant statues.
After the photo opp we explored the exhibits in this area. The kids were so excited to see the elephants (which were well camouflaged) and get close up with the giraffes (my favorite animal). They were also able to watch up close as the zoo keepers fed the cheetahs, and peered in on some sleeping wart hogs. I am so happy that the Dallas Zoo finally created this area for these magnificent animals and got them out of the tiny enclosures they were once in.
Where's the elephant?
Can you spot the elephant here?
How about here?
These cheetahs really love their meatballs!
Our next area to explore before lunch was the "Wilds of Africa". First up on our tour were the gorillas followed by the crocodiles, the chimpanzees, meerkats and some rock climbing. Unfortunately for us our time here was very limited and we ended up rushing through most of it since we had to meet for lunch but not before the kids were able to see what they really wanted to see and we took some great pictures.
The gorilla is hiding in the bushes....do you see him?
That poor gorilla has a monkey on its back!
Doesn't he look slightly annoyed? LOL
They were determined to wrestle the crocodile
They finally caught it!
Now they're having second thoughts about the real one.
What happens when you have a chimp statue and Alyssa?
The chimp gets a kiss! Ha!
I'm not quite sure where this wild animal came from. LOL
But the meerkat was entertained.
After a quick lunch over by the cat green we decided to take the kids over to the children's zoo area and let them cool off in the stream. They wasted no time in taking off their shoes and socks and running through the cool waters.
Now it's sad to say that by the time they were done in the stream it was time for the kids to return to the buses and head back to school. So here we had to say goodbye to the rest of our group, however Michael and I had already signed Alyssa out so that she could stay with us and we returned to allow she and Cayden to explore the children's zoo area. Here they were able to pet some goats (which brought back a few memories for Alyssa), watch some ducks, peer into a 1,000 gallon tank filled with giant goldfish, gazed at some giant rabbits, owls and pigs, and crawled through some tunnels were they could peer out at some mongoose.
After we were finished in the children's zoo area I have to admit that it was already 2:00pm and we were exhausted. So rather than finish exploring the north side of the zoo we opted to leave. At this point the sun was coming out and really starting to beat down on us and we wanted to get back to our side of town before rush hour. So we left but not before we stopped to view the flamingos and gave the kids a chance to ride the carousel. I know, we weren't supposed to do that but hey, the field trip had been officially over for about an hour by then and all of the other kids were gone so what could it hurt. LOL
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