Proposed Zoo/Aquarium Trips For 2010

B

Blackduiker

Well-Known Member
Well being Christmas Eve, some may think it a bit early for New Year's resolutions, but I thought it interesting to know some of the probable, not necessarily for certain, zoo trips of our ZooChat family out there for 2010.

My most probable plans for 2010 include, a getaway weekend trip with my wife to Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Zoo. Hopefully January or February. And while we're in the cooler months, a trip to the Living Desert, in Palm Desert, Ca. Also high on my list for next year is the Gibbon Conservation/Research Center here in my very own backyard of Santa Clarita; literally less than 4 miles away from me.

I'm also planning a getaway to Phoenix AZ, but that has to be during cooler weather, like Palm Desert, as well. And with my Niece playing as a starting guard for the WNBA Minnesota Timberwolves, my wife and I figure it's high time we visited Minnesota for one of her home games. Minnesota Zoo is high on my list of things to do while there. We may possibly take in games to see her in Sacramento, Phoenix and Seattle, as well as when she visits here in LA at the Staples Center. More possible zoo visiting opportunities. But her schedule makes all visits out-of-town to see her tentative.

And lastly, another trip to St. Louis for one of my wife's women's conferences is almost certain next year, so I'll be taking in a full day at the St. Louis Zoo for sure. What a great zoo to see for free!

Well those are my plans for next year, but whose to say what surprise trips are also in store?

What are your travel plans fellow ZooChatters? All of which should include zoo/aquarium visits of course. :)
 
Last edited:
I'm going to Bristol on Monday (about 15 minutes away), and hopefully back to Germany to do Koln, Hamburg, probably more, and loads more in Britain. Should be fun :D
 
This thread was from the summer of 2008, when my wife and I visited 30 different zoos and aquariums in the span of 8 weeks. Each of the 30 establishments has a full-length review on this thread:

http://www.zoochat.com/22/snowleopards-epic-road-trip-20316/

For the summer of 2010 there is the possibility (depending on vacation time and finances) that we will embark on another road trip, and in the process visit maybe 20 different zoos and aquariums that we've never been to before. I've already got a trip planned, and perhaps I'll have another "epic" thread...:)
 
2010's gonna be busy...

For my part, it's not going to be so much the quantity of trips as what I plan to cram into them. ;-)

In the 'small but friendly' department, my lady and I are going to try and make it down to Bandon (Oregon) this coming summer. We've not visited the West Coast Game Park in quite some time, and I think we're about due.

Once the weather warms up a bit, my lady and I will be visiting Pt. Defiance Zoo (Tacoma) for the first time in quite a while. We met one of their marine mammal people at the 2008 IMATA conference, and we were outright told it had been too long since we'd been there and we obviously needed a decent tour. Who am I to say no? ;-)

The Greater Vancouver Zoo (Aldergrove, BC) is one we're staying far, FAR away from until they (1): Hire some decent management, and (2): Get rid of the incompetent boob running their current raptor show.

The real trip for me, though, will come in October. I'm going to take a full week to journey to Minneapolis. Four days of that week will be occupied by the University of Minnesota's Raptor Care and Handling workshop, a fairly intensive hands-on course in (what else?) care and handling of raptors in a public presentation environment. The knowledge I'll gain of bird care alone (beak coping, talon trimming, emergency medical care) will, I suspect, be well worth the price tag for the course.

At least one other day (possibly two, depending on how the first visit goes) will be spent at the MN Zoo in Apple Valley. God willing, I'll be able to get up there while they still have the dolphins they got on loan from the Hawk's Cay facility in the Florida Keys. Turns out one of the female dolphins they're currently hosting, name of April, is the very first dolphin I ever met, back in 1974 when I visited my first oceanarium. That experience was solely responsible for firing my interest in the critters, and it'd be great to see her again (for the sake of closure if nothing else).

The rest of the time, I figure I'll do a bit of exploring and see what other likely-looking raptor or animal parks are within range. I've heard rumors of a pretty decent interactive-type park in the area, though I've not pinned down just who it is as yet.

So -- I have to wonder how many miles we'll all end up traveling if it's all added up at the end of each year? :D

Happy travels, no matter where your road of choice takes you.
 
And I would be remiss if I didn't finally make it back down to San Diego next year, a zoo visit I haven't made in over 5 years. Quite neglectful, being a former member of that Zoological Society for a couple of years. I've got to see what all the fuss over Elephant Odyssey is all about, both pro and con, for myself. And that will be approaching the much anticipated 2010 opening of the LA Zoo's Pachyderm Forest. The perfect chance to make comparisons of both habitats.
 
I'm visiting National Zoo and Aquarium and Mogo Zoo next week. Adelaide Zoo, Monarto Zoo and Cleland Wildlife Park will be towards the end of January.

There's a possible trip to Tasmania in February, during which we would no doubt visit a couple of places.

I'm hoping for a long roadtrip halfway through the year that would take us to the Sunshine Coast, travelling inland to take in Western Plains and Darling Downs on the way up, Australia Zoo and Underwater World on the Sunshine Coast, Sea World and possibly Currumbin on the Gold Coast... Then down the NSW coast visiting Pet Porpoise Pool and Australian Reptile Park on way to Sydney. If we have any money left, we might take in Taronga and Sydney Aquarium again. :p
 
CGSwans said:
I'm visiting National Zoo and Aquarium and Mogo Zoo next week. Adelaide Zoo, Monarto Zoo and Cleland Wildlife Park will be towards the end of January.

There's a possible trip to Tasmania in February, during which we would no doubt visit a couple of places.

I'm hoping for a long roadtrip halfway through the year that would take us to the Sunshine Coast, travelling inland to take in Western Plains and Darling Downs on the way up, Australia Zoo and Underwater World on the Sunshine Coast, Sea World and possibly Currumbin on the Gold Coast... Then down the NSW coast visiting Pet Porpoise Pool and Australian Reptile Park on way to Sydney. If we have any money left, we might take in Taronga and Sydney Aquarium again. :p
Click to expand...

If you like rare natives Fleays is very close to Currumbin :cool:
 
In February or March I hope to head to Adelaide to see the Giant Pandas. Will also take in Monarto, Cleland and Bredl's at Renmark. Then down to Kangaroo Island for a few days before headng back to Sydney. If I have enough timew I might pop up to Uluru and the Alice - Alice Springs Reptile Centre and the Desert Park.

And of course, regular visits to Taronga.

:p

Hix
 
To bring 2009 to a close, my husband and I are visiting Chester Zoo, Blackpool Zoo, South Lakes Wild Animal Park and Knowsley Safari Park over the coming week (weather permitting, of course!) and have already made plans to visit Dudley Zoo (our first time) and Cotswold Wildlife Park (the first time since 2002) for my birthday in February, and Edinburgh Zoo, Highland Wildlife Park, Blair Drummond Safari Park and Camperdown Wildlife Centre whilst on holiday in Perthshire next May (we haven't visited Scotland before). We will be renewing our annual passes to Paignton Zoo next month, so will take full advantage of the reciprocal membership scheme (as we have done this year) and I'm sure will be visiting Marwell in particular many times next year :D
 
Along with the usual bundle of Marwell, New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park visits and Hawk Conservancy visits, my target this year will be to visit Whipsnade for the first time; something we originally planned for Easter but the weather was always crap! We may be going to Scotland again meaning second visits to Edinburgh and the HWP, and I definately want to return to the Aspinall Parks. And of course, there'll be our annual Longleat trip.

Of course, my big highlight will be my Keeper for a Day at Marwell on the 30th June: Also the day before my prom, so a good shower will be needed after that! :D
 
Blackduiker said:
And I would be remiss if I didn't finally make it back down to San Diego next year
Click to expand...

I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you go in late July or August when they have their nightime zoo and that you stay until closing at 9pm. (Although actually the gift shop is open until at least 9:30pm and they let people stay on the grounds until then, or maybe even a little later). Nightime zoo at San Diego may be my favorite zoo experience (well, except for Parc des Felins in France, which is cat-lover's heaven).
 
Here's a couple definites for me:

New Year's Eve at Heritage Park Zoo (Prescott, Arizona)
New Year's Day at Out Of Africa (Camp Verde, Arizona)

Putting together a So. Cal. docent trip for Feb. 5-7:
EFBC Feline Conservation Center
Los Angeles Zoo (snow day)
Aquarium of the Pacific

A possibility for June:
Dallas Zoo (Giants of the Savanna)
Fort Worth Zoo (MOLA)

A possibility for September:
Brookfield Zoo (Chicago) for 2010 AZAD conference
 
My hopes for 2010 are

Blackbrook
Blackpool
Cotswold
Edinburgh
Howletts
Linton (new)
Living Coasts
London
Martin Mere
Marwell
Paignton
Slimbridge
Twycross
Whipsnade
Wildwood (new)
World Owl Centre (new)

My one definite collection is Chester in about 2-3 weeks, I have to renew my membership.
 
Hopefuls for me in 2010 are:
Gladys Porter (maybe in a month or two)
Tulsa
Louisiana Zoo trip (Baton Rouge, Monroe, New Orleans, Alexandria)
 
After three big Zootours to the USA, the last one in Summer this year, I will go east next summer to visit some zoos and especially aquariums in japan and Taiwan.

In April, I plan to visit the Oceanopolis Brest.
 
I am in the beginning stages of planning a road trip for the summer of 2010, and my wife and by then 10-month old daughter are looking at perhaps 3 weeks on the road. Things could dramatically change due to life circumstances as it is still early in the planning process, the trip could be extended by a week or cancelled completely depending on work, finances, etc, but here is a rough sketch of the zoos we would visit (IN ORDER) if we do leave on our latest epic adventure:

Totally Subject To Change:

17 Zoos
1 Aquarium
23 Days
23 U.S. States

IN ORDER:

1- Zoo Montana
2- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
3- Sedgwick County Zoo
4- Tulsa Zoo
5- Kansas City Zoo
6- St. Louis Zoo
7- Louisville Zoo
8- Nashville Zoo
9- North Carolina Zoo
10- Riverbanks Zoo
11- Montgomery Zoo
12- Audubon Zoo
13- Caldwell Zoo
14- Dallas Zoo
15- Rio Grande Zoo
16- Albuquerque Aquarium (right next door to Rio Grande Zoo)
17- Utah's Hogle Zoo
18- Zoo Boise

That list could also include a few smaller, "lesser" establishments that we'd pass along the way, and it is simply a preliminary list of possible destinations so maybe one or two could drop off the list and one or two others could be added.

NONE of those zoos are ones that I've visited, as I'd like to avoid all of the zoos and aquariums that my wife and I have previously been to. If we were to see those 15 major zoos in 2010 (plus Zoo Montana, Albuquerque Aquarium and Zoo Boise) then that would take our total to 45 out of the 60 major zoos profiled in the fantastic book "America's Best Zoos".

I still regularly email author Allen Nyhuis, and he actually responded with time frames for all of the zoos on my list. Since he lives in Indianapolis then maybe we'd swing by and pay him another visit in 2010, as we did on our 2008 trip. If we have more time on our hands we could then drive north and see if we could squeeze in the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, and maybe Cleveland Zoo. However, those are all BIG IF's...as I'm not sure if my wife wants a repeat of the 30 zoo/aquarium 2008 trip...haha. Just joking, as she had tons of fun last time round, and I'm hoping to maybe get up to 20 zoos/aquariums in the summer of 2010.
 
I am hopefully going to go back to my mother city of Edinburgh and go to the famous Zoo there. I also have plans for a visit to Slimbridge to see ALL SIX Flamingo species! and to Bristol Zoo too. In October/November we may be going to Oregon/Washington and Vancouver so will see what Zoos we encounter there.
 
Plans:
Zoos of Slovakia(august 2010):
Bratislava
Bojnice
Spiska nova ves

Western Germany(Planned july 2010, not definite yet):
Köln
Dusseldorf
Duisburg
Krefeld
Dortmund
ZOOM
Wuppertal
Bochum
Hamm
Hannover
Osnabruck
Rheine

And of course some visits in the Netherlands(Emmen, Blijdorp, Ouwehands, Beekse Bergen, Burgers Zoo(very often) and more) I also hope to visit Plankendael, Antwerp and Frankfurt.
 
I plan on going to the North Carolina Zoo. Otherwise, not sure on any zoos I haven't been to, maybe Toronto and Detroit. I will surely go back to the Philadephia Zoo, Maryland Zoo, and National Zoo at least once each as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top