Hotlanta - Part 2 - Where the Wild Things Are

You can't visit Atlanta without going to the Zoo & Aquarium.  Both attractions are part of the City Pass that also includes attractions like the Coca Cola Museum, or you can grab two park passes for just the zoo & aquarium.  This is what we chose to do.  To beat the lines at the always popular Georgia Aquarium, we bought our passes from the Atlanta Zoo's ticket booth.  You don't have to go to both attractions on the same day,because the tickets are good for 7 days.  We chose to visit both attractions on the same day, though, because they're not far from each other and we figured we'd get good and sweaty walking around the zoo, then cool off in the a/c at the aquarium. 

First up the zoo.  The Atlanta Zoo is one of only 4 zoos in the nation to house Giant Pandas.  Po, the baby panda is getting quite large.  Unfortunately, I got entirely too much glare from the glass when I tried to take panda pics, so here's a pic of the bamboo forest surrounding the exhibits.

Along with the baby panda, the zoo is also the proud home of a new baby giraffe, tons of baby monkeys and apes, and some baby tigers.  The baby tigers and their mother were still in seclusion, but could be seen on a video cam of the den space.  Here's the proud papa tiger.

The Atlanta Zoo has the largest captive gorilla family in the nation,



and several interactive exhibits including the naked mole rat enclosure, as well as the living tree house, and parakeet enclosure where the boys were able to feed the birds.

The elephant training was fun for the boys to watch.  It was a lot like dog training with sit & stay  type commands.

After all that walking around, the boys appreciated the CoolFog misting fans

before we headed to the Aquarium.

The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world with more than 10 million gallons of water.  It's largest tank, holds numerous rays, sharks, and other fish. 

One of the highlights of any visit is walking through the tunnel that runs through the big tank as sharks pass overhead.

It's hard to explain how enormous this tank is, but check out how tiny the people are in the main viewing room.

Identification cards are available, for an eye spy type hunt for all the aquatic creatures in the large tank.

The saltwater tank is only one of many exhibits including a coldwater area with belugas and penguins, a tropical exhibit with coral and jellies, and a river exhibit with otters and alligators.  The albino alligators really caught SB's attention.

There are plenty of interactive exhibits that allow you to crawl right into the middle of the penguin enclosure, the saltwater tank, or the freshwater river exhibit.  CG shouted that I better turn around here, if I didn't want a pic of my bottom.

The many touch pools feature diverse animals like shrimp, starfish, echidnas, and anemones.

But by far, the most fun touch pool is the one with the rays and hammerhead shark.  These animals are so silky smooth, and the rays will actually swim up and rub against your waiting hand.

 

There's also several shows including a 3D theater show and a dolphin show, but if running around is more your speed, letting loose in the play area with the big whale slide is a great way to spend some excess energy.

Thanks for popping in and checking out Where the Wild Things are in Atlanta.  I'm linking this up to Decor to Adore's Wayfaring Wednesdays.