A little oasis in a bustling city! (Central Park Zoo (New York))

Member Name: bestbunnygirl

Product:	Central Park Zoo (New York)
Date:	14/02/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely well looked after animals

Disadvantages: None!

Ever since I was a little girl I've always loved visiting the zoo. I've had the mis-fortune though of visiting some zoos where the animals are mis-treated and don't seem to be looked after at all. So when I visit a new zoo it can sometimes be a bitter-sweet experience.

The Central Park zoo in New York though is most definitely one of the gooduns! If you've seen the movie Hitch with Will Smith you might remember the scene where they try to set up Will Smiths Character - well this scene is set in centre of the zoo! I love watching films and being able to say "I've stood in that very spot"!

I love the fact that the zoo is hidden away in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. You completely forget that fact when you are wandering around the place and feel like you can totally chill out!

We did find it quite difficult to find the zoo as Central Park is so much bigger than we thought! It took us a good 20 minutes to find it and we've since learnt we started at the wrong end of the park! If you enter the Park from 5th Avenue 64th street you should be much closer!

The zoo is open every day of the year!! Tickets cost $8 for adults $3 for children and $4 for over 65 (under 3's are free) The cost of the ticket covers entry into the Children's zoo also (although we didn't venture in here as we ran out of time so can't give my opinion on this)! This is incredibly good value, the zoo is small and compact, but there are plenty of animals to see and things to do that you get quite a bargain!

The zoo has been designed extremely well so you can easily walk to each exhibit one after another. That is the thing I find with alot of zoo's is that even with the maps and signposts I get so lost and you sometimes have to go back on yourself to get somewhere - not here though!

There is a heart to the park and all the other exhbits lead off this. The middle of the park is home to the cutest sea lions who are fed at certain times during the day and it's worth making time to watch this as they are so funny scrambling for the fish. We were very lucky as it was so quiet that the keepers really took there time in telling us about the sea lions. Most places wouldn't bother if there were so few people around so you really know the keepers care so much.

Wandering away from the main centre square you will be greated by all the other exhibits which include the polar circle where you can see the most chilled out polar bears and some cute waddling penguins!

One of my favourite areas is the Tropic Zone. This is an indoor area where you can truly be one with the animals! Birds are flying over head and wandering around your feet! It is so much fun! There are other animals in here such as bats and different breeds of monkeys but they are enclosed so you need to worry about them pouncing on your head. They are through the rainforest area in a seperate section.

Make sure you pick up a map as this will tell you when each animal is being fed. It's always worth going along to these as the keepers do such a great job of telling you all about the animals.

The keepers here are brilliant. You can tell that they really love the animals and are so pasionate about there welfare whilst they are talking about them!

If you are feeling a bit peckish there is a cafe on site providing meals, snacks and drinks. All priced reasonably and all tasting pretty good!

And don't forget to stop by the gfit shop to pick up a souvenir to remind you of you trip!

Summary: A must do in New York City!