At the Zoo

We hurried west on South Carolina's  Interstate 26 from the coast noting the brilliant billboards announcing, "The Dragons are Here!". We were finally, after two years deliberation, going to visit Riverbanks Zoo in Colunbia.  The day was beautiful, the second day of summer, and though it would be warm, not the days of August's inferno.  We were surprised to see quite a few visitors.  It was shortly after opening at nine,  and we almost had to wait in line for tickets.

The information booth on the left provided us with a map, and we were on our way.  Without consulting the map we passed under the dragon advertising banner into the reptile house.  In the darkness the plexiglas enclosures are illuminated, so the snakes and other reptiles are visible.  Displays are organized geographically.  There is quite a collection of rattlesnakes which are native to South Carolina.  I am not overly fond of snakes and never would have touched one if it had not been for an incident with the Boy Scouts of America. I was an adult leader on a camping trip when I found out that if the Scouts found out you were afraid of snakes you would probably find one in you sleeping bag.  So with great fear and trepidation I handled a king snake in full view of the entire troop.  And no, I never found a snake in my sleeping bag.  The Komodo dragons were quite active.  I was expecting them to be at  least eight-feet-long like those we had seen in Phoenix, but these were only two months old and about two-feet-long.  There were other interesting lizards, also, like those funky Australian ones the have the big flap of skin that they can raise up.  There were Geckos and iguanas too.  The reptile house exits to some freshwater fish aquaria and some crocodiles.

We consulted the map and found it rather useless.  However, it may have been designed  for the XBox generation, and we just didn't get it.  There were some interesting birds in some large cages.  The macaws and toucans were easily recognized.  There was a tunnel-like structure which had small apes in cages illuminated by the sun. The  aquariums had a great selection of saltwater fishes stared at by small children. The high pitch of laughter and other sounds apparently do not upset the fish. But then where could an upset fish go?  Behind a screen of bamboo there is probably a fish therapist in a white lab coat waiting?

We wandered along the paths avoiding large groups of children and young mothers with tots in huge strollers. I've ridden in taxi cabs in Europe smaller than these kiddie haulers. There is a pond and some huge boulders in the elephant area. We saw four elephants as they appeared at feeding time. I think I felt the earth tremble a bit as these Africans hurried to get lunch. Ah, trembling earth, a burning sun, red dust, and the smell of elephant dung...life is good.  The next large animals we encountered were the giraffes; they were near a small herd of zebras.  This was a kid friendly area where kids could buy leafy green vegetation to feed the long-necked creatures.  Little Johnny paid his money and bought giraffe food and dutifully climbed up on the platform to feed the animals. But little Johnny, being little Johnny, quickly jerked the food out of the reach of the giraffe. He did this several times before the giraffe apparently got a bug up his nose and sneezed.  Little Johnny was upset and ran screaming for his mommy with giraffe mucus dripping off him. I laughed, but not too loud.  We saw koala bears in what felt like a refrigerated room, and they were playing dead with their eyes open. Actually, koalas normally move very slow to conserve energy.  Next we entered a bird cage with the Lorikeets.  They are beautiful colorful birds with parrot-like beaks.  One jumped on my extended finger and pinched my finger with his beak.  He was expecting food, which I had not purchased.  I don't believe in hand-outs.  Maybe if he had performed a trick or something he would have earned some food.

One animal we simply had to see was the mountain gorilla.  They have two silverbacks at the Riverbanks Zoo.  It was the closest I had ever been to a four hundred pound primate.  Thick plexiglas separates the viewer from the big apes.  He was laying on his back with his legs crossed chewing on a straw. On my side of the barrier was a little girl of four.  I was struck by the contrasts.  Pretty vs. ugly.  Small vs. large. Colorful vs. monochrome. Free vs. captive.

We saw the lion in  a lion-size cave, a hyena, and the statue of Happy the Tiger.  According to novelist Pat Conroy Happy the Tiger was the reason for the zoo.  Happy lived in a cage at a local Esso station as a promotional gimmick and children would feed him when their parents bought gasoline.  Some folks thought Happy should have been in a zoo, and an idea was born.  Happy was the first animal at the zoo but could not adapt to a huge living area and regular tiger food.

After some lunch we caught the tram and crossed the river to the Botanical Gardens.  The gardens are beautiful and well worth the trip even if you don't go to the zoo.

We had a great day at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and I'm sure all the kids we saw had  a lot of fun too, but I'm not so sure about their parents.