BFF Visit: Day Three - Day

This will be a loooong post. You've been warned.

I may have mentioned this before, but on Wednesdays the Bronx Zoo's admission is free/by donation only. Erca Whale and I obviously made our way there. We left for our zoo excursion at 12:15PM and got there at 1:40PM. We were like excited little children. I love zoos especially the Bronx Zoo. Erica and I made it a point to find the Gorillas (rad), Giraffes (my favorites) and Penguins (her favorites).

Hey, let's make this an interactive blog, shall we? Here is a map of the zoo. Open it in a different browser window and follow our journey...

We entered through the Asia Gate and passed the Camels (toe). From there we walked towards and past the African Plains. As we reached the Somba Village, we decided to walk towards the Baboon Reserve.

While watching the baboons, these two little kids came running towards the fence we were watching from. They were loud and a little obnoxious, but hey, kids (and I) can be that way when they (I) get excited. Their older siblings (whom were acting as chaperones) noticed how annoying they possibly were and stated "Guys, you have to be quiet. Baboons eat children. Ask that lady next to you." The two little boys looked at me horrified. "Do they?" Erica and I smiled. I wanted to say "No, they don't" but I didn't want to derail the older sister's tactics. So, I just kind of giggled with the Whale (yes, giggled) and shook my head a little bit at the boys.

I love primates! I like animals, in general, and I know way too much about them. I'm a really big nerd with stuff like that. So, Erca Whale and I made our way past the giraffes and into the Congo Gorilla Forest. When Erc and I entered, we were face-to-face with the Colobus monkeys. We were dying because Erc said it looked like he was wearing a little hat! AHAHAHA I've always thought that. Look at his dumb Russian-looking "hat!" It's so silly. I love it.

Also, because I love my Mega Day, I've gotten really into Okapis. There's a picture of one below. It's blurry 'cause it kept hiding and running away from us Whales, but we caught him on film!! Doesn't the okapi look ethereal? It looks like a mix between a zebra and a horse, but believe it or not, it's closest living relative is the giraffe. I told Mega Day that that is why we get along so well.

After that, we made our way to try and find Julia at the Gorilla Forest. Now, Julia is a special gorilla to me. I "met" her on my first visit to the zoo. I told Erc all about her and we both couldn't wait to find her. On our voyage to see her, we saw this informational display to the right. It's actually really terrible - poachers kill gorillas and decapitate them for show. Erca Whale and Tanya Beluga thought this looked really silly. We looked like sick fucks because we were trying to take pictures, but also not look like we were, and the flash kept fucking up, so we had to take multiple shots and keep changing the cameras settings. (PS. Most ungrammatical sentence ever).

We finally rounded the corner in the Congo Gorilla Forest to the gorilla habitats. We saw some precious lil bebes "fighting" & chasing each other. Aside: Might I add, people are really rude. Some adults were all up on the looking glass and pounding on it as a gorilla was sitting just on the other side. Umm, one: make room for the little kids/short Tanyas that can't see over your dumb head, and two: gorillas/most animals don't like you tapping on a glass five inches from their heads! Idiots. As we went through this little corridor where most people don't bother to look at gorillas from, I knew we'd come face to face with

Julia!

Look at how statuesque she looks! I want to be her handler! Anyway, Julia did her awesome trick where she tips herself forward (so she almost looks like she's doing a headstand), sits back upright and then vomits food into her hand. Then, to the horror of most onlookers (and merriment of myself and Erica) will eat her vomit out of her palm and then repeat this cycle. Also, Julia likes to stick her tongue out at you whenever she deems it necessary. This is why I love Julia. It was hard to photograph her in the process of either puking or sticking her tongue out, but here's the best evidence the Whale and I could conjure up for you:

After the western lowland gorilla show, we made the trek across the zoo to the Aquatic Bird House - home of the Penguins. Erc was really happy. On our way, we stopped at the Bronx Zoo Store and she bought a little penguin snowglobe. I bought some sweet ass shirts: One of giraffes and the other of two baby gorillas wrasslin'.

When we finally got to the damned Aquatic Bird House, it had been a long walk; our feet were tired, but Erc really wanted to see los penguinos. So, by the time we finally get there - and neglected half of the other shit along the way - we noticed a sign that said the goddamned thing was closed!

Erica was SO bummed and, of course, I thought this was hysterical. You've seen the map! It was a damn odyssey in getting there - only to find out it was shut down!! Erc was (jokingly) pretending to wail and scream. It was hysterical. Pictures of me laughing at and mocking Erica can be found below:

As Erica literally crawled toward the entrance, crying "Why?! Why?! WHY?!" (in a near Nancy Kerrigan impression), I took a picture because I am a jerk. However, as she crawled and I followed, I jokingly said "F it, let's go in anyway." When we reached the door, we made a serendipitous discovery. (Read the sign for said "serendipitous discovery," Faithful Reader...)

Erica was instantly elated and we made our way to see her little baby penguins. They were kind of unimpressive, I'm not gonna lie about it... Well, we were pretty much done at the zoo, but we wanted to ride the Skyfari. First of all, here's the thing, like I've stated before in Bee's Visit, I'm slightly afraid of heights. Go ahead and think I'm a puss; I could give a shiite. Regardless, I didn't think the Skyfari would be too bad. Boy, was I wrong. And I wasn't the only one to think so!

First off, all you could really see from the gondolas were the parking lots and tiny, tiny, tiny images of the animals. It kind of blew. However, the worst part was that the gondola would kind of swing in the wind in a really creepy way. Also, at the points where the cables connected overhead to the tall poles that held them up, a really scary drop was felt in the gondola and Erica and I were equally worried we'd fall to our deaths. She took some pictures of me that I feel portray me "enjoying" the Skyfari ride pretty accurately. I like the half-smile, half-oh-shit-we're gonna-die look...

When we were finally done with the zoo, Erc and I rode the train to Times Square and then to the Top of the Rock - which I prefer more than the Empire State Building for a few reasons. One: The line is less dense/long. Two: You can see the Empire State Building in Manhattan's skyline while atop the Top of the Rock.

Anyway, after seeing these sights, we went back to my apartment and got ready for a night out on the town...

This post would have been wayyy too long if I hadn't broken it up into "Day" and "Night." You're welcome. I know you care. (Sarcasm font).

More soon,
The T(-Rex)