Omaha Zoo - worth it!

The botanical gardens had a lot of abstract art. Which I found really fun!

We want to start exploring the Midwest while we are out here. Why not get acquainted with the local attractions. Now that the weather is no longer cold and snowy we can drive anywhere near by... such freedom! Our first weekend long trip was to the Omaha Zoo and Omaha's botanical gardens.

We hear the Omaha Zoo is second in the nation. San Diego is the best in our nation. Of course for the time being San Diego would a bit more of a drive.

The Omaha Zoo was incredible and I will be taking the kids down to Omaha regularly. Absolutely recommend it. I had one hiccup in this adventure – I did not charge my camera! My man was super worried how well I would deal, but we had a great time without photos (I also got a disposable camera – hopefully that got a couple photos that worked out!)

Some of the zoo highlights are:

1. The cat complex. Beautiful creatures and we can get really close. Beezus really wanted to see the jaguar, because she just completed her diorama on the jaguar at her school a couple weeks ago. We also went and saw the Disney movie “African Cats” the weekend before. I am glad we did. The kids loved telling us about each animal we looked at.

2. The Lemur Islands. They have an enclosed area for their lemurs that you walk through while the lemurs run freely around you. I literally had lemurs running between me chasing each other. I was a little worried they would jump on to me, but they did not. The kids had a blast, obviously being so close the lemurs.

3. The Desert Dome and Kingdom of the Nights. The desert dome and kingdom of the nights displays. It felt like walking through Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom Sawyers Island and the Jungle Cruise combined! They put a huge emphasis to details of creating a scene. It felt like we were on a bridge in the swamp and when we looked over our bridge there were gigantic alligators. Reminded me why I probably will not move down south anytime soon! The whole time we walked through these displays my man would hmm, “yoho, yoho a pirates life for me”.

Anyway… we had a blast. The kids got to see every animal, hang out at the petting zoo, feed birds, get a ride on the merry-go-round, see the primates. I was proud that both my children wanted to learn about each animal we passed. It feels good to know they will walk away with a little more knowledge about the various animals out there.