I found myself with an entire day to explore
Chicago on my own. What should I do? After perusing several options in propaganda I
gathered from the Concierge I decided a day at the zoo would be fine. There
were some reports on baby animals and the whole city was alive with spring
blossoms.
The day was warming up when I arrived via cab.
I was already filled with giggles as my cabby
proceeded to regale me with a tale of a fare he had a few days before me. He
picked up a woman and her small dog and took them to the groomers. She asked
him to wait and tipped him $50 promising more. So he waited. A while later they came out, the dog all
coiffed and fluffed and bedecked in bows. He then took them to her home again
where she asked him to wait again for another tip which he did. The woman and
the dog both came back out and this time the woman was dressed and coiffed and
bedecked in Pearls and some black vampy Louboutin heels. Where were they going
I asked? He giggled and said “A Puppy Party”. A what??? Puppy Party… they are
apparently very popular in Chicago. You dress up your dog and yourself and go
to a very chic party. He says they have had formal events that included dogs at
the very posh Drake Hotel. After an enchanting ride and my cabby’s generous and
thoughtful offer to hold on to my credit card so my hands would be free to
photograph the camels I hopped out, waved good-bye and practically skipped into
the zoo.
The Lincoln Park Zoo is free and feels more
like a park with a few animal displays than a zoo with some flowers.
I was
thrilled. However after reviewing my photos I realized that it appears as
though I was at a garden. It is just impossible to get a good shot of anything
behind glass.
I started out observing the sea lions
but the
only cooperative fellow was a seagull.
I wandered on bewitched by all the
flowers stopping often to look and just enjoy a real spring.
We don’t have these
in Texas. The sun was out but the air still held a veil of chill which would be
warmed suddenly by gentle whispers of sun heated air. I think this day was my favorite.
I passed the Swan Pond where the swans were
not and on to the Waterfowl Lagoon which was overtaken by flamingos all napping
in the sun.
My meandering brought me to the zebra
enclosure where the contrary beasts were all under a bridge in the shade and
impossible to see.
Next were Alpacas. Fluffy headed goofy, shaggy Alpacas.
My first thought was “it must be awful for
them in winter”. They are Bactrian camels.
They have two humps and are native to China and Mongolia but can be found all
over Asia. They live mostly in dry grassland and desert areas. They favor grasses,
leaves and shrubs but they can tolerate dry vegetation and thorny brush other
grass eating mammals cannot. They can live up to 50 years. The temperatures of
their native Central Asia in the high rocky desert can drop as low as 20 below
0 in winter so they are very well suited for cold Chicago winters.
My second thought was Humpty-back camels and
yes The Unicorn, written by Shel Silverstein and sung by The Irish Rovers did
pop into my head.
My third thought was interrupted by a group of
several people including three women one of whom said, “Look!! Llamas!! They
have llamas!” I paused looked again at the enclosure and then at the women and
then further back from where I had come and thought, No those are alpacas. But
we were standing in front of the camels and they could not yet see the Alpacas.
“Are you sure?” I heard one say. “Yes, yes those are llamas.” To my surprise a
couple of the men in the group agreed that indeed they were looking at llamas.
I looked again at the camels. The camels were now looking right at the group. I
had to turn and step away to better observe these people. They were so
delighted and thrilled by the llamas. I was amused. But not in a cruel way that
I was thinking of making fun of them. I wanted to watch their excitement change
when they finally realized or were told that those were camels. I was not to be
disappointed. One of the women who was a llama believer went to read the plaque
explaining about the camels when she said in a very reverent whisper, “Those
are camels. GUYS!!! Those are camels!!” She was excited, however a couple
people in her group argued that no they were llamas. (WHAT??? I am thinking….lol….
this just got better…LOL) She pointed to the plaque and told them that no they
were camels the sign said so. The men in the group trudged over to plaque and
read it. “This does say these are camels.” A hush fell over them all. I had to
walk away.
I visited the apes, and hurried through the
monkey exhibit which are always disturbing. I found a pretzel peddler and was
very disappointed with the worst pretzel EVER!
The Kovler Lion House gave us an up close and practically personal encounter
with a sleeping lion. He was snuggled up to the glass and soundly asleep. There
was a girl standing right next to him starring in awe at his size when the lion’s
keeper walked up to her looked her in the eye and said ‘Oh good! You are here.
Just in time for feeding. Are you ready to go in?” She looked at him turned
white as chalk and quickly backed away shaking her head. We all laughed as he
touched her shoulder and explained he was teasing. She relaxed and laughed.
I waved good day to the Zoo and after expertly
flagging sown a cab whizzing by at Mach2 I went back to my Hotel. It was a
wonder filled day. Thank you Chicago and Lincoln Park Zoo.
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