July 9, 2025

July 9, 2025

Before leaving Colorado Springs, we decided to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We have heard good things about it and Aimee and I always like seeing and photographing animals. The zoo is built on the slope of the hill about halfway between the famous Broadmoor Hotel and the entrance to NORAD. Like every major tourist attraction nowadays we had to buy a timed ticket. We bought the earliest to avoid fighting the crowds.

Aimee’s brother said the highlight for them was the Giraffes. Aimee also recently read a book called "West with Giraffes", so that was our first target. The zoo has major construction going on in the African area, but we still managed to be the first there. The zoo hangs tree branches nearby to attract the dozens of giraffes.

We got into a nice conversation with an older docent who also likes to travel so she gave us a private tour of the giraffe feeding station. She provided us with lots of feed (at no charge). We wave the sticks and lettuce hoping some will find it tastier than the larger tree branches. We have a blast feeding these very tall gentle creatures. They have long purple tongues and not only eat the leaves on the tree but the whole stem.

The feeding stations are getting crowded so we move on to the other African animals. It seems we are too early. The animals are still in their cages while the zoo keepers are putting out feed for the day. I guess zoo keepers aren't early risers.

We next visit the Australian area to see Wallabies. They don’t interest us that much since they visited our campground in Australia. There was an exhibit full of colorful parakeets. Apparently these birds are native to Australia where they are called Budgies.

We passed the leopard exhibit but they were too far away to see. We saw a tiger but he had no desire to get up and move in the heat. That is a common complaint today.

Our next stop was the reptile house. The highlight was a colorful Chameleon. Another interesting stop was an exhibit with a dozen baby skunks. These cuties have had their scent glands removed and are being raised for sale to other zoos. Who knew that skunks were in high demand.

In our excitement for feeding the giraffes, we forgot to take any videos. So we stop again at the giraffe exhibit. I saw the giraffes peeling off the bark of the tree, so instead of buying feed, I start pulling off strips of bark from the hanging tree for them. The giraffes seem to appreciate the help. I can’t believe their stomachs can process this indigestible material.

We stopped by the elephants again but viewing was limited. I wanted to see the lions but they were sleeping, albeit very close. They are terrifyingly large predators. No wonder our ancestors left Africa thousands of years ago.

Our last stop was the African waters area to see hippos and penguins. The only interesting thing was the South African Penguin predilection for suddenly breaking out into a howl which would then cause another to bray. They have the nickname of Jackass Penguin for that reason. The adjoining Primate house was pretty quiet except for a male Orangutan.

The zoo is very crowded now, especially with families pushing strollers and pulling wagons so we decide to head out. We were a little disappointed in the zoo; we probably had too high of an expectation. However we loved the Giraffes and that made it all worthwhile.

We left heading south back to Pueblo where we were able to check into our hotel early. Aimee has been wanting to see the new Brad Pitt movie, so we spent the afternoon watching Formula 1. It was entertaining and a little educational. We have no knowledge of racing, especially F1. It is highly technical. Unlike Indy Cars, which usually run on ovals, F1 races on road tracks with lots of turns. There is team strategy and lots of arcane concerns like temperature of the tires and how old the tires are. For the uninitiated, it was sometimes hard to follow.