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A day at the zoo

I had a phonecall, from the delightful Dorothy. "Would you like to get some animal action today?" Well, what red-blooded man can resist a come-on like that? I jumped into my SUV and roared off down the road to Dorothy's house. Strangely she was both dressed and ready when I got there. She climbed into my SUV and off we zoomed. She normally drives a Camero at high speed. I prefer the more leisurely pace of my driving as opposed to white-knuckle rides. Unsurprisingly, I've never ever had a speeding ticket and am highly unlikely to get one. I never dared ask Dorothy how many she has had though as a nurse, she has a viable excuse.

So, we ended up at Columbia Riverbanks Zoo. It's a rather pleasant place full of interesting plants and animals. Some parts of it are rather Disney-esque but without the atrocious prices, the ridiculous crowds and the feeling that you're trapped in a falsehood. 

Entering the zoo, we turned right and arrived at the monkey enclosure where this fine specimen was perched on a tree, waiting for lunch. These animals have hundreds of acres to roam in the wild and here they are, held captive in a very small space. It's nice to see them all but one cannot but feel sorry for them despite the fact they probably have better food and lodgings here than they ever did in the wild. 
  
Monkey up a tree
Monkey up a tree
Continuing on, we found the lion enclosure where the lion wanted to get frisky with the lioness. Needless to say, the lioness was not amused and didn't want to play.

Gee, I'm bored... Where's Mrs Lion?
Gee, I'm bored... Where's Mrs Lion?

Ah... There she is... Wonder if she'll play
Ah... There she is... Wonder if she'll play

Hey, honey - wanna get lucky?
Hey, honey - wanna get lucky?
No dear, I have a headache.
No dear, I have a headache.

I'm getting out of here, I don't need to be ripped a new one!
I'm getting out of here, I don't need to be ripped a new one!

Darn... I was up for it too!
Darn... I was up for it too!
Continuing on our walk from the entertaining sequence of events between Mr and Mrs Lion, we arrived at the giraffe enclosure. Here, I thought it would be fun since the giraffe was busily chewing some grass to get a head shot. It worked really quite well. I'm really quite pleased with my 70-300 IS lens. It seems to do wildlife photos brilliantly.

Giraffe having lunch
Giraffe having lunch
From there, we moved on to the snake house where I found this fine specimen perched on a branch. I'm assuming it's some kind of tree snake. Judging from the triangular shape to his head and the obvious bulges at the back I will assume that it is a venemous snake. I'm rather pleased to say it was behind glass.

Let sleeping snakes lie
Let sleeping snakes lie
We continued on to wander the rest of the zoo, encountering many interesting exhibits but sadly were defeated by darkness as the sun went to hide behind the horizon. Leaving, we clambered back into my SUV and zoomed off down the interstate again to our favorite Indian restaurant for yet another wonderful meal then back home.

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Location: Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, 500 Wildlife Parkway, Columbia, SC 29210, USA

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