Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

I have heard that this zoo is pretty cool. This week is our Spring break for all of our kids. So we made a calendar and put an outing on each day.  Kameron and his friend Kaleb went rock climbing in Colorado Springs, so we went to the zoo.

 

This zoo is on the side of a mountain.  You walk on boardwalks with awesome pole railing through the African exhibits, and then on pavement through the rest.  Yes, you are going up, the entire time.  However, you get an amazing view of the animals below you as well as the whole countryside of Colorado Springs.

Fairy Butterfly, view of Colorado Springs

 The first exhibit is the Giraffe!  I have always...always...thought these are the coolest animal.  Super tall legs....short stubby horns, awesome fur pattern...

Well, I learned they have super LONG tongues, that are black and they can take a cracker out of your hands by wrapping that tongue around the cracker! 

 

They sell romaine lettuce and special "giraffe" crackers for you to feed to them.  They are not shy but don't really want to stick around for petting unless you have said cracker.  This zoo has done an amazing job with giraffes.  They love it here...they have babies here and are very healthy and happy, too.

Cute Face!

 

So Many Giraffes!

 

 It looked like it would be a warm day, so of course the boys didn't think a coat necessary. It turned out to be pretty chilly.  

Joel, Sadie, Meerkat, Kaleb and Sean

 

They had pony rides, a carousel, face painting, a playground, a ski lift to ride up the mountain...

Sadie on "Buddy" the horse

 

It was a very fun day.  We didn't get to see all the animals but we loved seeing the:

giraffes

river otters

tiger

mountain lions

lion

elephants

leopard

meerkats

 Sean and his kettle korn...just 3 minutes in the car.