The Calgary Zoo was the hook for an extended long-weekend trip that also happened to be our sixth honeymoon. I’m honestly loving that tradition. The corresponding anniversary gift this year would have been wood… I think a trip is better than that. We had planned a large part of one of our Calgary days for the zoo, but Mother Nature had other ideas and the morning’s biblical rains made me wonder if we’d see any animals at all. Seeing a possible break in the weather later in the day, we held off on our visit.

It seems like most of Calgary decided against the zoo and changed their day’s plans because once the clouds cleared mid afternoon, it felt like we had the place mostly to ourselves. How often, without waiting in a line, can you get extended, uninterrupted panda time?

Not only that, but we could get up close to Calgary’s newest citizens. Like, really, really close. Nice panda!

We watched one in particular eat a lot of bamboo, then make his way down closer to us to roll around for a bit, before settling in for a nap.

While the pandas were the main attraction, with a zoo to ourselves, we set of exploring to see some larger and more exotic animals. Loved the shades of pink of these flamingos.

Without the crowds we really got some great close up views of the larger animals. I had a staring contest with this hippo. I didn’t win.

And without hordes of other visitors to content with, I got to stand within 15 feet of this magnificent animal. It was a surreal experience to be this close, and I even managed to forget there was glass between us. Nice kitty!

While visiting the San Diego zoo a few years ago, we had a chance to feed giraffes. That was quite the experience, and ever since, I’ve been more drawn to them at other zoos. These animals don’t seem to make any sense with their proportions and general lankiness, but they are incredible beautiful and have a unique grace.

After losing the staring contest with the hippo earlier, I wasn’t even going to try with this guy. There was some elite level intimidation going on here with someone else in the gallery.

As closing time at the zoo approached, we visited the bears. While my wife used to watch bears at the dump for entertainment near her family cottage in New Brunswick as a kid, I haven’t seen bears all that often in my life. After taking the picture below, the lighter coloured female bear walked right up to the fence, rolled over on her back, and did something I guess a lady bear has no shame in doing in public, much to the laughter of a small group of us.

We saved the penguins for last, and these guys didn’t disappoint. At an indoor/outdoor exhibit, we got our fill of waddling, jumping, falling and swimming penguins. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I’m not sure I’d want to know you.