Florida Road Trip Day 17 - The Miami Zoo

We left Sanibel Island with three days until our reservations in the keys. Since we didn't know how long it would take to explore the Everglades we opted to throw in that third day just in case. Both of us however had enough with our adventures yesterday, and since Miami was so close we decided to pop in for a night. When researching what we wanted to do for the day we both decided that we didn't want to go hiking or see a swamp. And we needed to do something that my Little Cricket would love since he has been such a trooper in the swamps and hikes. While digging around online I found mostly great reviews about the Miami Zoo, peppered in with some that weren't so good. Mr. Rogue and I love zoos though, and we knew my Little Cricket would have a great time there as well (he loves zoos too). So we took a chance.





The entrance fee was so super low, and this zoo it was incredible. So much was amazing, I don’t even know where to start… but on second thought I know exactly where to start, where we started, in the most amazing bird aviary I have ever been in. Seriously it was gigantic and I got to see birds I had never even heard of before. My two top favorites were the Golden Olive Woodpecker and the Gigantic Night Jar.













Of course it was hot. Hot, hot, hotter than hot. I was therefore surprised when we got to see so many animals out and about. I guess, living here, they are acclimated to the heat. And then there were some like the lizards and frogs which I am sure just dig this kind of crazy hot weather.









But you know what made this zoo so incredibly cool the misters they had scattered around for a quick cool-off helped, but the most amazing thing was the waterpark for the kids. At first we weren't really sure if my Little Cricket would like it. After all he just learned to walk properly, and although he loved water we have only really exposed him to bath, pool and beach water not water spouting all over the friggin place. We had no cause for worry. Other than a little trepidation over getting water in his eyes he loved it.









We got to see so many animals. And I might just have to say that this zoo may be the second best zoo I have ever been too. Of course the San Diego zoo wins that first place. My Little Cricket loved that we got to see so many big animals out. He particularly loved the little cave you could crawl in to see inside the jaguar’s den. Nothing like being right up close and personal with a gigantic furry kitty!