Joe Sterne's Blog

Nope, we didn’t take a flight from Florida across the globe. We just ended up at Naples Zoo in (big surprise here) Naples, Florida.

So the first thing any normal person does when entering a new zoo is immediately looks for all of the animals that are in movies, tv ads, etc. Wait, I’m the only person that does that? Boy, the Naples Zoo had a ton of pop culture references:

• Alex (Lion), Marty (Zebra), Melman (Giraffe), King Julian (Lemur), Monkeys, and some Antelopes.

• We also saw an Adult Nala (Lion).

• Tony (the Tiger). He was taking a “tiger snooze” when we saw him. Not sure what he was dreaming…

• Smokey (the bear).

• A Camel (sadly, it wasn’t hump day when we visited).

The Naples Zoo was surprisingly large. There is a large pond area where the monkeys are kept (tourable by pontoon boat). If they somehow learn to swim, they get sent to a different zoo (which most likely will have a cage). On the other side of a man made barrier lays a gaggle of gators tanning on the beach. As you wind through the zoo on a paved path, you come across other fenced-in exhibits with different animals. The zoo holds quite a variety of animals!

We had a blast wandering around there. I was able to get some decent photos, with and without fencing in the shot. You can check out the whole album on Flickr here.