Gorillas, Lemurs and Flamingos, Oh My!

Around midnight our brunch date cancelled on us and I was secretly overjoyed (I love you brunch date!) because it was supposed to be a beautiful day and I wanted to go to the zoo.

Bright and early we hopped on the bus and got ourselves up to the Bronx.

It was indeed a gorgeous fall day and we had the added bonus of being in a huge 'park' with brilliant turning leaves.

And what did we see? Besides ankle biters? Loads of animals! Here are my favorites:
Apparently I'm a bit of a monkey charmer, because this little guy, a Goeldi's marmoset (he would fit in your hand) couldn't take his eyes off of me. It was so bizarre! I would move from left to right and he would hop from branch to branch following me. Then we'd do it all over again. Sometimes, I'd hide behind the bamboo out of his vision and he would move in order to see me. I must've stayed there with him for a good 20 minutes and had his full attention. K was amazed. We went through the rest of the monkey house and on our way out stopped by again to see if it was just a fluke and nope, I charmed him again. Maybe I look like his handler? I could've stayed there all day!
The Madagascar exhibit was great! The lemurs are stinky but they sure are cute. This is another country high on our list of places to go...and they high scuba diving there, too! Lemur trekking in the jungle followed by spectacular diving? Sounds like our idea of a great holiday.

We didn't go into the Congo Gorilla exhibit last time we were here as it was brand new and mobbed. But today we saw over 12 of the 23 gorillas. They are so amazing--again I could have stayed there watching them for hours.

Looks like someone needs a pedicure....
These are for Heidi!
Loved that the peacocks just got to roam around at will.
A glimpse of the giraffes as we left...

We both forgot how many children are at the zoo--I think we only saw a few other couples who were sans kiddos. It was a lot of fun to watch them and listen to them all day. If going to the zoo is this much fun by ourselves, we are going to have a blast going with kids! On the other hand, we really enjoyed the opportunity to do what we wanted at the zoo. I know that once we have a child, she/he is not going to be patient enough to let mommy be a monkey charmer.

The day was topped off with afternoon tea at a fantastic tea shop in our neighborhood and tonight Sunday sushi with the girls.

Wonderful weekend--hope yours was too!