The Virginia Zoo

The Virginia Zoo, in Norfolk, is a pretty nice zoo.  It's the largest in the state, but it's still fairly small compared to big city zoos.  I was amazed at how close you could get to the animals.  Granted there was a sheet of plexi-glass between us, but I've never been this close to a tiger before.

Grady really liked watching the monkeys swing around in their playroom.  He kept pointing at saying "monga"

Here is a red panda sitting in the tree over our head.  I'm not sure what was keeping this guy from escaping, because there was no barrier between us and him.

My photo of the Asianic bear didn't turn out so well because my camera kept focusing on the cage and not the bear. Oh well....

Grady looking at the bears.

This section was the African animals.  All the non-preditor animals were in the same fenced in area.  Rhino and Zebra hanging out in the shade.

and an ostrich with his head out of the sand :)

You can barely see the monkey sitting on the log.  I waited a long time for him to turn and face me, but I only got a side angle.  It's the monkey from the lion king (Rafiki).

Here is a bongo

Grady looking at the animals (or trying to figure out how to get through the ropes)

This is another one taken through a window.  I guess this giraffe was inside for lunch.

Then there is my personal favorite...the elephants!

These last couple I took for my sister, Emily, who loves small furry animals.  

I could have reached over the fence and patted this prairie dog on the head if I wanted. 

I know what everyone is thinking.  We went to the beach for vacation, so where are the beach photos?!  Coming soon.  Probably on Friday.  I'm attempting to put together a video of us at the beach and then I'll have to figure out how to post it to my blog.  We'll see how it goes.