So last Tuesday was the first of two days that my cousin, Craig, just had to work.

I chose that day to fulfill a personal and familial mission: visit the Toronto Zoo. My mother has been in love with the zoo ever since the cable tv package changed to include the Life channel. She loves the Zoo Diaries show; it makes her laugh, it makes her cry. I'm a sucker for zoos...anything like that, museums, science centers, aquariums, so I was interested. Amazingly enough, my cousin, who has lived in Toronto for four years now, has never been to the zoo. It's world famous! He's been to every pub in the GTA, but never been to the zoo. I don't get it.

The transit ride seemed to be never ending. I took the bus to the subway. I took one subway line east until it intersected with the other. I transfered, and took the other subway north. I caught another bus east. I transfered to another bus that went a little more north. The trip was about 2 hours in total, but I think that it was worth it.

The zoo is massive, but it's not a technical marvel such as other zoos. There is no monorail line. There are no high-tech displays. Just endless trails of animals in cages. Unfortunately, the lack of technology does mean that some of the animals seem a little trapped. Some of the more modern zoos have better, more natural enclosures. Some of the best make the guests feel caged while the animals roam free. Those are the best kinds of zoos.

I wandered the paths for about 4 hours. During that time, I fought bravely and won against my impulse to strangle children and parents. It was a hot, sunny-ish, humid day. Why did people feel that it was necessary to drag young, almost new babies and children out in the hot midday sun. The kids aren't going to remember anything. They won't remember "posing" (aka dozing) for the photos you've taken. Part of the reason they won't remember might be the permanent brain damage caused by the sunstroke. But who am I to comment? I haven't impregnated anyone, therefore I'm no expert on raising kids (that was meant to be a joke because we all know that getting pregnant and birthing a baby does not mean that people experts, it just means that they're fertile).

So the kids were screeching louder than the primates. But I did manage to get a few good photos (I think). There's a picture of one of the trails. A photo of an orangutan in a burlap sack (you can just see the feet sticking out). When I got to that area, all I could see was a burlap sack sitting on the platform. Then the organgutan "fought" its way out. Then it stared at the crowd watching it, and then it put the sack back on. Very funny.





Then there's the photo of some elephants (four, I think). Monkey love. And then some more scenery.















I bought a bunch of stuff at the gift shop, including something for The Brat, and then I took the long journey on transit back home. This time, though, I followed some other people, and found a slightly shorter route. It went through a scary part of town, but I survived.