Destination Sunshine: Pachy' Pro Goes to Florida

As things finally start to warm up in the windy city, it's time for me once again to flee Illinois as I head to the most stereotypical Spring break vacation spot in America, Florida. Funny enough, I have visited more zoos in Florida then any other state in America (Currently sitting at 5 excluding ones on this trip) and this will be only increased this time around This trip will be a little different then my San Diego trip earlier at the beginning of the year. For one this trip should have me visiting 7 zoological facilities (3 traditional zoos, 2 aquariums, a theme park and an animal sanctuary). And also unlike my San Diego trip, I won't be writing about the non zoo/animal experiences, or at least not as much. I have a mix of very obscure and very well known facilities on the horizon.

However, there is one more catch to this trip. I have already completed half of it. I just returned home from Tampa a few days ago, where I visited 3 (I can guarantee you can guess 2/3 of the places, but there's now way you can guess the third one) of my planned facilities. My second half of the trip will not commence for a few weeks now where I will visit 4 more Floridian zoos.

Reviews will be out very soon.

 

Hmmm, for Tampa I would guess
1) Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park (formerly Lowry Park Zoo)
2) Busch Gardens
3) hmmm, that could be a few places: Giraffe Ranch, Safari Wild, Big Cat Rescue, Croc Encounters, Suncoast Primate Sanctuary, Florida Aquarium, Tarpon Springs Aquarium, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Dade City's Wild Things....

 

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. One of these is correct .

 

Grr! OK, if I had to guess I am going with Big Cat Rescue or Croc Encounters

 

Clearwater perhaps?

 

Exciting! I enjoyed your California trip immensely and am eager to hear your opinions on Florida’s zoos. Your review of the Lowry Park Zoo will be the most interesting to me, as I just missed seeing it when I was in Florida.

Oh, and I do hope that you’re writing speed is faster than mine.

 

It's Tarpon Springs Aquarium. I saw his pictures.

 

You spoilsport! I love random guessing!

 

Wait! Your telling me someone actually saw those pictures? . Yes this was the facility visited, but there's a bit of a story behind this one that I'll share in the review.

 

Day 1: My Most Bearable Flight

Yeah, strange title I know. While I said I won't be dallying much into my non-zoological activities, I will make an exception in this post. People who know me well know I really hate flying, scratch that, people who read , "Such a Lovely Place: Pachy' Pro Goes to San Diego" know I hate flying. It's very hard for me to sit still for hours on end with two random strangers. However, I did not hate my flight from Chicago Florida, which was half the time of my Californian flight only being 2 hours and some minutes. Why exactly was able to manage this time around.

Well I finally caved in a bought an album on ITunes. I usually only use YouTube or Spotify for my music because it's free. However, I simply could not bear sitting on a plain without any stimulation. So I purchased what is undoubtable my favorite album ever produced from my favorite band. Leave This Town by Daughtry is excellent and every song is a masterpiece. I listed to the album twice which ate up about an hour and a half of my flight which was greatly releaving. And what a better day to post this review then the same day Daughtry released there first big song in two years, "Backbone". Good day.

Anyways, I'll leave my album review on Daughtry Chat (Which is actually a thing! Chris Daughtry Chat). Long story short, I landed around 8 PM and picked up my rental car and drove to a family members house. I probably should have mentioned this in the first post, but the main point of the trip is to see family, which I have both in Tampa, and in the location of my second half of the trip. The zoological facilities are merely supplements.

Well that does it for the first day, tomorrow I will review my first Florida zoo.​

 

Speaking for myself, I enjoy some of the non-zoo discussion of the trip. It adds a nice level of depth.
I look forward to your reviews!

 

I too enjoy the non-Zoo discussions! Zoo reviews come first though.

 

No! Not big cat rescue!

 

Nice! I have not been there for many years, I am interested to see how it is now.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you do not like big cat rescue.

 

I do not like it indeed.

 

Mind explaining why?

 

I am not good at explaining things myself. However I can show you the article that gave me the "red pill" check the second video within the article. Otherwise I was just another guy who believed in the "thousands of tigers in backyards" claim.

 

Day 2: Zoo Experiences in Tampa - Part l

Well this is long overdue. Sorry for the delay on the trip report, I've been pretty busy since I returned from my trip and have not had the time to wright - or type I suppose - much. Anyways, on the second day of my Floridian excursion, I found myself at the newly renamed Zoo Tampa. This was my fifth visit to this facility (twice in 2014, once in 2015, once in 2017), however I think this time around it was the lest enjoyable for myself. That's not at all to say Zoo Tampa is bad, because it most certainly is not, far from it actually. However, because of recent redevelopments that were announced mere weeks ahead of my visit, much of the zoo was plagued by closures. Tigers were off exhibit due to pool cleaning, the discovery center is being refurbished (And was last closed on my last visit in 2017), half of Ituri Forest is being revamped, the Expedition Africa tram tour was undergoing maintenance and perhaps worst of all the manatee center is being renovated meaning that the sea cows were not present during my visit. I think it's great the zoo is making some great improvements, but still was disappointing done the less.

Despite the many unfortunate closures, I still had a very nice visit to the mid sized park. I began in the Asian Gardens section of the park. It's one of, if not the oldest section of the park reaming and it definitely shows. Barriers are blatantly obvious and all the exhibits are on the small side. The first habitats consist of a mediocre narrow ditch for a pair visayan warty pigs, and a medium sized Malayan tapir yard. Viewing is rather awkward on both yards, as there are multiple vantage points but parts of the yard are blocked my some unattractive fake rock that also lines the barn. A decent Komodo dragon exhibit is nearby. For a juvenile, its a nice exhibit, but for an adult It's just a little to small. The outdoor exhibit is fine, but the adjacent indoor exhibit is a small dark box with some really awful glare. I question why it's even on show in the first place. Across from the komodos is a solid lorikeet walkthrough aviary featuring rainbow lories, dusky lories, blue-faced honeyeaters, bantam chickens, Kenyan crested guinea fowl and helmeted guinea fowl. I believe there was also a teal in there as well. After reentering the boardwalk you come across the two predator habitats. An average yard for Malayan tigers (Which again, were off exhibit for me) and an above average yard for sloth bears. Both habitats have grass, pools and climbing structures but the bear exhibit is bigger and has far more diverse landscaping. Though the viewing is mediocre, as your looking down on the animals through wire fencing, the exhibits are still nice.

So nothing too grand yet, but things soon picked up with the hidden gem that is the Sulawesi aviary. It's small but has diverse species list, containing Javen pond heron, domestic geese, nene geese, masked lapwing, silkie chicken, Sulawesi tarictic hornbill, mandarin duck, spotted whistling duck, and demoiselle crane among others that were unlisted or I missed the signs of. Asian pond turtles and reeves muntjac are also present in the lush temple environment. Continuing on, there is an unspectacular small dirt yard for a pair of lowland anoa. Next door was an Indian rhino yard that was much two small and with mesh that made awkward viewing. There is also a second yard behind it that can be seen from another trail, but that one isn't much better. Luckily the last habitats in the Asian section make up for it. An excellent lush Indian gharial pool is home two about a half a dozen specimens. Then right next door is an above average tropical clouded leopard exhibit that is viewed through harp wire. The plantings are well done and it is one of my favorite cat exhibits at the zoo. The final two yards are simple, a larger lush yard for Burmese mountain tortoises, and an average dirt yard for a small family of babirusa. Overall all the Asian section is decent but not particularity noteworthy.

Continuing down the path I arrive at the Florid Wildlife center. First thing I notice, the key deer exhibit is gone. A new exhibit for red wolves has been built in it's place, and I thinks it's actually a downgrade from their previous exhibit. It may only be temporary, a large new water ride is being built by their previous exhibit, but it's still strange to me. Going up the boardwalk, their was a then empty exhibit that usually contains a few pelicans. Before entering the main center visitors are greeted with a stingray touch tank (which I did not attend) and a large open air bald eagle exhibit. Like most zoo eagles, these birds are injured and cannot fly. The exhibit almost looks like a small garden, but needs more climbing branches and logs. And right across from the eagles there is a very small gopher tortoise exhibit that is unshowy and easy to miss.

Bald Eagle Among the Plants by pachyderm pro posted 28 Mar 2018 at 2:05 PM

 

Day 2: Zoo Experiences in Tampa - Part ll

First let me apologize. Ever since I got back from this trip I have been busier then ever and have almost no time to sit down and write. I've done a pretty lousy job updating this thread, I hope that will change soon. Anyways, let me continue where I left off.

The Florida Center interior was filled with many native species of reptiles, amphibians and fish. I didn't make much note of them, however. There's a trio of large rattlesnake terrariums, a mix of salt and freshwater tanks, and a plentiful amount of other species in lovely terrariums. Then there was the bright green manatee tank, which was empty without inhabitants. It was very disappointing to miss out on the sea cows despite me seeing them on multiple other occasions. I was aware the zoo was planning on revamping the center, but I wasn't aware they would be starting so soon on the renovations. I'm sure the disappointment most visitors must feel when going to the zoo, expecting to see a star species like manatees is present throughout each visit. Exiting the center, another moss green pool is directly across from the construction of the new manatee center, for North American river otters. Compared to some of the other exhibits I have seen for the species, it's underwhelming but it's adequate. Viewing the land section however, is a real pain. The following exhibits in the Florida center are of varying quality but are all adequate; an American alligator pool is excellent and is viewed from multiple angles; several bird cages and lush, but all on the small side; there is a large mixed species sandhill crane and striped skunk exhibit (Where the latter was unsurprisingly unseen) that was above average; there was a small little flamingo cove that I almost missed because of how unshowy it is; and a medium sized cage for a Florida panther. The cage is furnished nicely, with climbing structures scattered throughout. Viewing is through harp wire, except for a single glass window by one of the cats resting spots. To end out the area, an excellent American black bear exhibit is long and grassy with a forest backdrop. A large lake that goes along the whole is exhibit is impressive and is filled with koi, who visitors can feed by shelling out 25 cents. That rounds out the Florida area, but in a few weeks, the new Roaring Springs water ride will open adding another attraction to the park. Because of it though, I was forced to backtrack through the entire Florida exhibit again just to pop out back by the Indian rhinos which was rather annoying, but understandable and temporary.

I then walked to the opposite side of the zoo and entered what could be argued to be the zoos strongest attraction. Safari Africa opened in phases between 2005 and 2008 and has plenty of variety between the exhibits in the section. Before going through the main tunnel that brings you the attraction, there is an average exhibit for a group of African penguins. There is also a cartoonish penguin education center, and a mini beach house as the off exhibit area. As over excessive as the theming may be, the exhibit still gets the job done for the black and white birds.

The main tunnel to Safari Africa is filled with wooden shipping crates, for seemingly no real reason at all, unless they were trying to make a subtle reference to the first Madagascar movie. There are also paintings of some key African animals on the walks with their African names painted along side of them. Exiting the other end you are greeted by a lovely plaza that includes the entrance the closed "Expedition Africa!" tram tour. A very nice feature through was the hornbill trail which contained a single aviary with 6 species including Trumpeter hornbill, von der deckens hornbill, yellow-necked spurfowl, red-legged seriema and blue duikers. There is also an above average exhibit for meerkats that is adjacent to a bathroom. Then you come across the massive African Lodge, an above average eatery that contains the main dining room - which is darker and artificially lit - as well as a smaller side room that have views into 2 of three savannah yards. Excellent eatery but it still pales in comparison to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's fantastic Mombasa Lagoon restaurant. Sigh, man I miss San Diego... huh? Oh yeah Florida, right.

Before getting into the main savannah, there are serval side exhibits for Galapagos tortoises, aldabra tortoises and raided tortoises all in simple yards. Adjacent to those habitats is the excellent woodland yard that contains lowland Nyla, abyssian ground hornbills and bay duikers. The latter was a real treat to see, as I can't recall any other North American institutions with them. A keeper was doing a scatter feed which provided excellent views of all three species. There was also a very small side exhibit for marabou storks, who usually also have accessed to the yards. There was a feeding going on there as well making for an active and engaging few minutes. Then I came across the savannah habitats, which is essentially one big yard that is split in three. The first and smallest of the yards is the giraffe overlook. Masai giraffes, a reticulated giraffe and Hartmann's mountain zebras are showcased in a solid exhibit with a feeding deck. The second and largest yard is home to a herd of a half a dozen African elephants, impala and Nile lechwe. 2 acres in size and is very grassy with plenty of space and multiple shade structures for the inhabitants. You can see it better on the tram, but if you look far back behind the main yard, there is the bull elephant yard which is about a half acre in size and went through minor renovations in 2017, and it's very solid. The final part of the savannah is Rhino Reserve. Containing white rhinos (Who were not present on my visit) and grevy's zebra. It's a little under an acre in size and provides up close viewing with the animals. There was also a used elephant transfer crate on display, which was used to transfer an elephant back during the 2003 Swaziland import between Tampa and San Diego. A trio of very nice habitats.

African Elephant by pachyderm pro posted 28 Mar 2018 at 2:05 PM

Ituri Forest is - similar to the Florida Center - under construction in parts so the full area is not open at the moment. The two major aviaries are closed, meaning the shoebills were sadly not present on my visit. However, among the construction was a newly opened habitat. A large grassy yard for painted dogs. A solid habitat which a lovely viewing structure. Chainlink is pretty obvious in parts, but the dogs yard is hilly, has hiding places and has over a dozen trees scattered throughout the exhibit. Next door is a average okapi yard which is shaded but I felt was just a little too small. The adjacent red river hog exhibit is even smaller and has mediocre viewing, making a bit of mediocre exhibit. I almost missed this one as well as its tucked away in the back. The final habitat is for pygmy hippos, including an adorable calf. The zoo has been quite successful in recent years breeding pygmy hippos. The habitat it self is good but not great. No underwater viewing, no grass, no trees. There is a decent sized pool and a nicely sized land area that rounds out the massive African section. Now you are forced to back track through the entire area again to pop back out of the tunnel.