Riding Camel & Feeding Giraffes

Finally got around to scanning the souvenir photos from the Miami Zoo in.

The giraffes were so beautiful! Look at those big eyes! Look closely under my hand and you'll one of them sticking his tongue out, reaching for the green leaf I'm holding. They have tongues that can wrap and grab, and that's what happens when you feed them, they reach out with their tongues and when they find the food they'll wrap around it and pull it in. Your hand can get slobbered a bit but it was super fun!

I got to ride Charlie the Camel here. They built a ramp up so you just hop on (without the camel kneeling). While the handler was leading him around this figure 8 track she asked if I had any questions. The conversation went like this.

"So, where are they from?"
"Oh, they're from Wisconsin."

Wisconsin? *blink* *blink*

"They're from Wisconsin?"
"Yup, there's a camel farm there."

... why is there a camel farm in Wisconsin?...

"Uh... so... isn't Wisconsin colder than Florida?"
"Yes, but the desert gets really cold at night so it's well within their natural habitat temperatures."
"Oh, I see..."

so yeah, I was riding a camel named Charlie from Wisconsin in the Miami Zoo.

I almost got to pet a hippo named Johnny! But he wouldn't come when they called out to him. He was half submerged in his pond, and they rang this bell and called his name for like.. a minute. He barely acknowledged us puny humans and stayed submerged. Oh well.

Speed Signs

All speed signs should be like this. :-)

Bird on the Attack

This is a male Argus Pheasant. I was walking in the aviary and he started to circle me. At first there were some Tufted Wood Partridge that was pecking at him so i thought they were playing. Then it started coming at me and started pecking at my feet! I redirected his attention by blocking his shots with my zoo map but was forced to retreat into a building. I asked one of the keepers if it was something i did or if i'm wearing colors too bright, she said no, that little guy is just aggressive and they had to put him in time out for attacking a little girl the other day. Way to start the day!

Everglades Tour

On an airboat!

The way airboats move is very interesting. Since it's "gliding" across the water, when it "turns" you often "slide" a little sideways. It's almost like driving in new england and sliding around corners. Except it's way smoother and less scary. :)

Art Deco Hotels

Art deco hotels on ocean drive. just hopped off one of those hop on hop off tour buses to walk around a bit. The architecture here is very cool and i certainly can't complain about the weather. :-)

Rental!

This is a rental and apparently have been featured in many movies and music videos - though the guide didn't say which ones. Really cool looking for sure. Wonder what the going price for it is...

Towers Along Miami Beach

another cool building in miami, this time on miami beach, view from the cruise boat. Love the curves on the roof.

Miami Lady Cruise

on the Miami Lady with Miami skyline in the background. :-) This 90 min cruise took us around Fisher Island, Star Island and the works to see where all the celebrities live. I took a bunch of pics of those mansions but I can't remember which is which anymore. I remember we saw home of Gloria Estefan, Noami Campbell (land formerly owned by Shaq.. currently a new mansion being built), Will Smith (summer home), Puff Daddy (totally covered by trees), and the oldest was a 1927 mansion formerly owned by Al Capone. Neat stuff!

Cool Building in Miami

Snapped this through my car window while in stopped traffic waiting for the draw bridge to come down. It's not terribly clear from this pic, but there's a rainbow coloring going across the building in each of those dots. I thought it was pretty neat.