Yes, I can actually charm the birds out of the trees.
The Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden was our scheduled destination for the day. The skies were clear blue and the temperatures would be warming as the day progressed. It is not Spring Break yet in South Carolina but the field trippers were out in force. Despite the school groups the zoo was relatively empty, at least by Bronx Zoo standards. It turned out to be a good viewing day. The cooler temperatures and our early arrival allowed us to see some animal activity.
Damian and I couldn’t stop quoting Rafiki from Lion King after seeing this guy. Damian wasn’t amused when I slapped him on the back of the head and shrieked, “It’s in the past!” It didn’t help that the lions were in the adjoining habitat. A chorus of “A weem away, A weem away” was my next number.
Learning the difference between Siberian and Bengal tigers by their fur.
We made the rounds and saw all the usual suspects: lions, tigers, bears (Oh my!), penguins, elephants, giraffes, zebras and of course more turtles.
Honestly, the kid never gets enough of them.
The highlight of the day was to be found in the aviary. The colorful little parrots would let you hand feed them with cups of nectar. Damian really gets a kick out of this and has done it before at other facilities. We spent most of our time feeding birds. Even I couldn’t resist.
The downside to this type of adventure was experienced by a gentleman standing a little further away from us. Let’s say he experienced baptism by bird. Actually, several birds. The kids got a big kick out of it.
At last Damian agreed to leave his feathered friends. One little guy was quite attached to him and kept landing on him and didn’t even want to eat. Eventually, we completed our zoo tour and set off for the gardens.
Unfortunately, the last time we were at the gardens it was late summer and everything was in bloom. The woodland trail we had used was currently closed. I could only assume it was due to the extreme flooding Columbia had experienced. Most of the gardens were still being mulched and set up so it was kind of a disappointment. The spring displays were still lovely. They made me think of Easter. We covered a lot of ground between the zoo and gardens. It was time for a rest. Tomorrow was finally going to be MY day at the beach.
Spring has sprung in South Carolina.
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