TheGytrash
Well-Known Member
Hi there! I live in the suburbs of Washington DC and am a lifelong visitor of the National Zoo and a fan of the Maryland Zoo since childhood. As a huge okapi fan, I've often made the trek out to Baltimore to see them!
I've loved zoos forever and often visited this forum to see which animals I might see when visiting a new zoo or looking for historic zoo photos. So far, besides my home zoos of National Zoo and Maryland, I've also visited:
* San Diego Zoo in 2004 (we made a day trip from a vacation to LA specifically so I could see the okapis)
* Disney's Animal Kingdom (4 times since 2005)
* Berlin Zoo in 2006
* Fort Worth Zoo in 2011
* London Zoo in 2012
* Philadelphia Zoo in 2015 (so sad to hear they no longer have an okapi exhibit)
* Central Park Zoo in 2016
* Bronx Zoo in 2022
I've loved something about every one of these zoos... in many cases, it was the okapi.
In terms of aquariums, I've been visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore since I was a toddler and have also been to the Georgia Aquarium and Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.
I've also visited two roadside zoos as a kid-- one of them was a mixed experience for me, but the other caused lifelong nightmares and made me become much more discerning about which zoos I visited.
I finally had to join this forum after visiting the Andean bear cubs at the National Zoo and doing a deep dive into their history of Andean bears there! Feel free to ask me stuff about the National or Maryland Zoos or my experience at any of the other zoos I've visited!
I've loved zoos forever and often visited this forum to see which animals I might see when visiting a new zoo or looking for historic zoo photos. So far, besides my home zoos of National Zoo and Maryland, I've also visited:
* San Diego Zoo in 2004 (we made a day trip from a vacation to LA specifically so I could see the okapis)
* Disney's Animal Kingdom (4 times since 2005)
* Berlin Zoo in 2006
* Fort Worth Zoo in 2011
* London Zoo in 2012
* Philadelphia Zoo in 2015 (so sad to hear they no longer have an okapi exhibit)
* Central Park Zoo in 2016
* Bronx Zoo in 2022
I've loved something about every one of these zoos... in many cases, it was the okapi.
In terms of aquariums, I've been visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore since I was a toddler and have also been to the Georgia Aquarium and Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.
I've also visited two roadside zoos as a kid-- one of them was a mixed experience for me, but the other caused lifelong nightmares and made me become much more discerning about which zoos I visited.
I finally had to join this forum after visiting the Andean bear cubs at the National Zoo and doing a deep dive into their history of Andean bears there! Feel free to ask me stuff about the National or Maryland Zoos or my experience at any of the other zoos I've visited!
