A Day at the Zoo

"Grilled Cheese Incident" aside, we finally made it to the Bristol Zoo this afternoon. It was an interesting little zoo, with a nice mix of indoor and outdoor habitats. The indoor habitats were especially helpful, since it rained on and off all afternoon. It wasn't so bad, though. I went into this trip expecting it to be constantly rainy, so finally seeing the rain today seemed like the weather was fulfilling some sort of contractual obligation. I'm sure I'll get sick of it eventually, but it was actually kind of fun walking around in the English drizzle. It seemed so... appropriate. 

Another interesting thing about the zoo was that it was located in a fairly busy part of town, and was surrounded by a college and all kinds of multi-story townhomes. You could live near the zoo, and literally look out of your window and see the lion and monkey habitats. 

Also, the zoo let the visitors get surprisingly close to the animals. The flamingo and lemur cages, for example, were completely open to the public. You could walk into the habitat, and stand literally inches away from the animals.  The footpaths by the other exhibits were similarly designed for close encounters. Frankie actually brushed up against a capybara's fur, and could have reached out and touched a penguin.

Here's the most significant thing I learned today: pygmy hippos are adorable. Behold them if you dare...