I have a “pay for a day and come back all year” pass at Zoo Tampa that expires by Christmas. I hadn’t gone all summer since it was so hot but since it has been a fairly cold winter here and I wanted to get a long walk in I made a visit recently. It was fun to walk around and see the Christmas decorations. The weather made it feel a little more like Christmas since it was chilly and not 85 degrees like past holidays. I was traveling light with just my phone.

One of the many fun Christmas trees.

It’s not as much fun seeing flamingos at the zoo when you’ve seen them in the wild.

Above are some of the birds in the large aviary. Most were fluffed up and staying in the sun since it was under 50 degrees.

There were a lot of manatees in the hospital. Here at the zoo they rescue, rehabilitate and release them back out in the wild. The girl in the front was trying to get the two in the front pod to drink some medicine. Behind her was a manatee that was being fed through a tube. He must have still been really sick. Between the hurricanes, red tide and a colder fall than usual, these guys have been really busy.

A manatee comes up for air  (on the right) in the big pool. There were two others with him (on the left bottom) and they were all waiting to be fed.

They have recently tripled the size of the Florida panther exhibit and this was the first time I have seen him up on the glass panel that you can walk under. It was weird seeing him up over my head.

Getting a sip.

The colobus monkeys were staying out of the wind and in the sun.

The siamangs are a favorite. When it’s cool outside they swing from the ropes and holler so loud you can hear it across the zoo. I was about to leave and heard them and ran over with everyone else there to see them swing. Above is a quick video that is loud.

I got a good hour walk in and am hoping to get one more walk in here before the end of the year.