Zoos You Could Have Gone to, But Didn't

CMP

CMP

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5+ year member
Have you ever been on a road trip or vacation where you passed by a zoo? You probably couldn't stop at every zoo on your trip, but there might be one or two that you could have gone to, but the weather, fellow travelers, or time restraints restricted you from going. What zoos could you have gone to, and wanted to go to, but were not able to?
 
Here is my irritating list:

Was at the front gate :mad:
Louisville zoo

Was staying in the city
Busch gardens Tampa
Detroit zoo
Toronto zoo
Zoo Atlanta

Could have stopped by on a trip
Nashville zoo
Riverbanks zoo
Kansas city zoo
Topeka zoo
John ball zoo
 
Biggest one is probably Loroparque in Puerto de la Cruz. That was in 2018, a year before my love for zoos resurfaced. I was staying in Puerto during my trip around the island but deemed the zoo too expensive to be worth a visit. And there were almost no ungulates on the map.

Only later I realized on how many unique parrot species I missed out on. So the regret is only in hindsight. It's highly improbable that I'll be back within the next five years. Oh well...
 
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When I was in Arizona recently I strongly considered visiting Phoenix, Reid Park, and Wildlife World, but opted to not visit any. I did visit ASDM but accidentally missed Life on the Rocks.
 
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Paris Zoo, Paris Aquarium and Palma Aquarium. I don’t know how much I missed, as I haven’t heard any mention of either on ZooChat, but I did walk right past the Palma Aquarium. Frustratingly I had to catch a flight.
 
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I tried to visit the night safari in Singapore, I got as far as the ticket kiosk but they refused to sell me a ticket as the rain was terrestrial. The lady in the kiosk said I wouldn't see anything, I told her I was happy to take the chance but she just refused to take my money.
 
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Quite a few aquariums in Tokyo. I only had time to go to one, and settled on Tokyo Sea Life Park. Breifly considered visiting Sunshine Aquarium, but there was no way I could pass up on seeing Bluefin Tuna. Plus the pictures of Sunshine's enclosures I had seen here (I was a lurker on Zoochat long before I signed up) looked pretty lackluster.

Could have gone to Platypus House when I visited Seahorse World, as they're literally right next to each other, but I figured it wasn't worth it since I had already seen Platypus and Echidna (the only animals they have afaik) in the wild.

Had the opportunity to go to the Hobart Zoo, but passed in favour of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, I had heard they had a great Antarctic exhibit (which was amazing)

Stood literally right in front of the London Aquarium, as much as I desperately wanted to go I didn't have time.
 
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The Barcelona Zoo actually back in 2019 when I went to the city with school for a week.
On the last day we got a day where we could fill in ourselves where we wanted to go and what to do and such. Unfortunately that entire week had been very physically exhausting resulting in my feet absolutely killing me. I was maybe a short kilometer away from it when I turned around and opted to go for the Aquarium instead. Which in hindsight I do not regret. Seeing sandtiger sharks was a big deal for me, absolutely one of my favourite shark species, neither was seeing seadragons!
Unfortunately that did come at a cost of missing some cool gazelles at the zoo.
But in the end I fear I would've possibly collapsed halfway through the zoo or be so physically drained it could result in possible complications.
 
Strix said:
Paris Zoo, Paris Aquarium and Palma Aquarium. I don’t know how much I missed, as I haven’t heard any mention of either on ZooChat, but I did walk right past the Palma Aquarium. Frustratingly I had to catch a flight.
Click to expand...

Probably because they aren't called Paris Zoo or Paris Aquarium... ;)

By Paris Zoo I assume you mean Zoo de Vincennes, which is to your point fairly little-known on Zoochat. The Paris aquariums (Porte Doree and Cineaqua, not sure which one you are talking about but I assume Cineaqua) have also passed under the radar a bit over here, even though Porte Doree in particular has a fabulous collection of rarities. You can however comfort yourself by the thought that neither of them are amazing, though Vincennes does have some nice exhibits and species.
 
Ned said:
I tried to visit the night safari in Singapore, I got as far as the ticket kiosk but they refused to sell me a ticket as the rain was terrestrial. The lady in the kiosk said I wouldn't see anything, I told her I was happy to take the chance but she just refused to take my money.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you could have got in if the rain were extra-terrestrial and you'd have been able to phone home.
 
Cairns Tropical Zoo, Cairns, Australia
Didn't visit because I was still a student who already spent too much money on a trip to Australia and I already planned on visiting a few other zoos.

Dehiwala Zoo, Colomo, Sri Lanka.
Only had 12 days to visit this country so felt like a zoo wasn't my priority.

Bali Zoo & Bali Safaripark, Bali, Indonesia
Only visited the Bali Bird Park as it seemed like the only one worth the time and money. I feel like I didn't miss much by skipping the other two.

Pata Zoo, Bangkok, Thailand.
I don't need to explain why I skipped this one...
 
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Los Angeles Zoo: I was about to take a flight to California and had a choice to go to Los Angeles or San Diego. I chose San Diego.

Saint Louis Zoo: I passed through this city, but didn’t have enough time to stay long.

Sedgwick County Zoo & Lincoln Children’s Zoo: I could have gone here for my birthday, but I chose to go to Omaha instead.

Memphis Zoo & Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: Potentially could’ve visited here on a road trip, but I chose Cincinnati Zoo over both of these.
 
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Funny enough I once had an opportunity to visit Jersey zoo.

However it was under circumstances which would have massively detracted from me enjoying the trip and would have sort of tarnished the whole memory for me.

For that reason I passed on the opportunity because it is quite a symbolic place for me and I want to enjoy my first visit there.

I'll visit it at some point in the future hopefully.
 
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ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
Here is my irritating list:

Was at the front gate :mad:
Louisville zoo

Was staying in the city
Busch gardens Tampa
Detroit zoo
Toronto zoo
Zoo Atlanta

Could have stopped by on a trip
Nashville zoo
Riverbanks zoo
Kansas city zoo
Topeka zoo
John ball zoo
Click to expand...

Rather frustratingly I'll add on another one to the Was at the front gate :mad: category, as the reservations had filled out before the group I was traveling with finalized their plans. We were in the Newport Levi area so decided to check if by chance there were any openings, of course they weren't. At least I got to see the Cincinnati zoo on the same trip, so it was alright I guess.
 
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