A little over a week ago I saw a post from grkids.com looking for people to sign up to be a zoo dandy. I had no clue what this was, but decided to sign up anyways because a free trip to the zoo is always fun! Besides I never get picked for anything. Lucky for me, I got picked. With this opportunity we got a free tour of the zoo before opening hours and passes to some of the fun summer activities at the zoo! One of my favorite things about being at the zoo before opening hours was that we got to hear the lions roaring as they were waking up, Awesome!
John Ball Zoo is a nice sized zoo, especially if you are with young children! I try to do things in the morning, and JBZ is just the right size to see all the animals and do a couple activities and still be home in time for 1 pm nap! They have increased their size by 50% in the last year. We got a sneak peek at the new things that are coming to the zoo!
Like next year they will be completely redoing the bear exhibit so that you can see it from both sides including the boardwalk above. In two years they are going to put in a tiger exhibit where the tigers will be strolling right along next to you on the boardwalk!
Speaking of the boardwalk! It is 500 ft. long and only 4 trees were removed to build it! It was a nice easy slope to push a stroller up. If you aren't interested in walking up the funicular will be open later this summer and you can ride to the top in less than 4 minutes!
At the top is this awesome new treehouse! It is available for events and weddings and seats up to 200 people. It has its own private deck that can be used for cocktail hour! They are also planning on building a childrens tree house in the next year for the kids to play in!
A view of Grand Rapids from the top of the 2nd highest hill in the city!
We also got to see a game they play with the chimpanzees in the morning where they hide food all over their outdoor area and then let them free to find it. The chimpanzees were pounding and calling to be let out, which made all the children laugh.
We got to pet the pigmy goats in one of the two petting areas. There is also a petting zoo in the childrens zoo area, with pigs, goats, and chickens!
This is the sting ray petting experience which costs only $1.
This is where you can fees the birds! For $1 they will give you a stick with some special bird seeds and when you hold the stick out the birds will land on it and eat! If you can see in the picture I am holding two sticks with two birds!
They are very pretty birds!
We had a fun time and an awesome tour provided by Krys and Kristen of the John Ball Zoo Society. We want to thank the zoo and GRkids.com for choosing us for this experience! We can't wait to go back and ride the funicular!
