The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – Colorado Springs
The first time I visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was in the summer of 2014. I was there with my American family and the guy I was seeing at the time.We had a grand-ol’ time. We entered the zoo and I immediately started walking towards the giraffe enclosure. I looked up and found myself eye-to-eye with 10 hungry giraffes., waiting to be feed and pet by the guests of the zoo. I was spellbound. I love animals a lot, often more than I love people. (On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate people a 10, which would put animals around a 15, that should give you some sort of idea of how deep my love for animals is.) Being able to be so intimate with these incredible creatures was a dream come true. I named them all Melman, after my favourite giraffe from the movie Madagascar, I took selfies with them and got my hands licked by their long, purple tongues as I fed them lettuce. It was wonderful. The experience was so different from any other zoo I had ever been to. I was not just looking at animals behind a cage but, instead, I was interacting with them which made me realize how tangible and real these beautiful creatures are. And that was only the first exhibit we saw at the zoo.
When we found our way to the lions, it was their feeding time. Lions are my all-time favourite animal. They are beautiful, powerful and rule the animal kingdom. (One of my dreams is to be adopted into a pack, just like that one lion photographer.) We watched as the zookeeper carefully threw chunks of raw meat into the cage. I fan girled hard watching them pull and gnaw at their food. The male Lion was pacing around his cage and he would occasionally pounce on the door where his food would be tossed from. I could hear him growling and as he roared, I could feel the hairs on my neck stand in excitement It was amazing. This was the first time I had seen a lion at a zoo moving around and not just lying down sleeping. This experience helped me understand how powerful these big cats are, and why they have earned the title of King of the Beasts.
Another thing I love about the zoo was the amazing views of the city that would peek through as you walked from one enclosure to another. As we walked along the zoo’s paths, stopping occasionally to breath in the fresh mountain air, we would look out across the city of Colorado Springs. This view made the day spent with family, friends and beautiful creatures all the more memorable.
As our trip to the zoo was coming to an end, we made one last stop to visit the grizzly bears. Their home is well laid out, with the viewing glass right in front of their pond. This allowed us to see the bears swimming and playing in the water up-close. Thewo, huge grizzly bears were play fighting in the water. It was AHmazing. I could hear them growling and grunting as they hit each with their paws and splashed around in the water. Because the grizzly is native to North America, it really felt as if I were seeing them in the natural habitat (aside from the thick layers of glass between us, keeping me safe and sound). I found myself wishing I could see that in the wild.es, it would be super dangerous but it also would be wicked cool! It was the perfect way to end our trip to the zoo.
If you are visiting Colorado Springs, you HAVE to take a trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Watch the video below to get a glimpse.