Farewell Indy Tour Day 3: The Zoo

I forced my sister to show up to my house at what was for her an unreasonable hour so we could spend the entire day at the zoo. When I lived downtown I had a membership and went often, but I hadn't been since I moved two years ago. We went almost straightaway to the dolphin show, and after the 20 minute presentation we went down to the dolphin dome to watch the watch the next show from underwater.

The dolphin show from above water. 

The dolphin show from below water. 

I've said many a time that the IMA is my favorite place in the city, but that is incorrect. I had forgotten my deep love of the dolphin dome at the zoo. I spent a total of two hours in it today, watching the dolphins swimming, playing, and for some reason turning the cover on one of the pool vents. My favorite moment was when one of the two dolphins trying to turn the vent came over and began twirling and rubbing against the glass right in front of me. It was beyond adorable. 

The underwater dolphin dome, viewed from a different window into the main pool. 

When I was a wee lass my little league coach was also a dolphin trainer at the zoo, and she would tell us all about the dolphins. My favorite was named China. I always looked for her when I went to the zoo and liked to believe she somehow knew the special place she held in my childhood heart. I hadn't seen China at the pool in years and assumed she had died or moved to another zoo, but today I found out she still lives in Indy. In fact, she just had a baby boy named Orin last July.

After the dolphins we left the zoo grounds for lunch. When we got back we visited the shark touch pool, which is always scary for me. The sharks didn't help my nerves today, as when I reached in to pet one it flipped around violently, nearly scaring the piss out of me. I decided that was enough for me and headed to the penguins, who I love to watch popping out of the water. 

Next we passed through the desert area (meerkats!) before heading off to see the lions and cheetahs. Unfortunately, there were only two cheetahs out today and they were napping in the sunshine. We did watch a talk about the role Kangel dogs play in protecting cheetahs and got to pet Solo, the zoo's three year old Kangel. 

Karissa keeping away skin cancer in the most sophisticated way. 

Solo the Kangel dog and his handler. 

Next we headed to the forests to see another of my favorite animals, the tiger. I love the way the zoo modified the tiger exhibit. The tigers seem much more willing to approach visitors now, although one of them was pacing repeatedly and I wondered if she didn't need more space. Speaking of renovations, the zoo is currently working on a state of the art orangutan exhibit complete with a sky deck ride. It is slated to open next summer, and I really hope I will get a chance to explore it someday. 

The forests concluded our first round at the zoo, but I dragged Karissa back to the dolphin dome for an hour before we headed out to the gardens to see the butterflies. Not so long ago I thought I was going to be married in the wedding garden there. It's beauty stuns me every time I visit. The two of us sat for a while, admiring the view and chatting, before we finally carried our exhausted bodies to the car. 

Before going home I took Karissa to see the Races of Mankind statues at Holiday Park and to grab dinner at Steak n' Shake. I shot a disposable camera today, so hopefully I'll get that developed tomorrow. All the pictures posted here were taken on my iPhone and aren't the best quality.