Holiday Enrichment at the Zoo

This morning Thomas and I drove down to Albuquerque to meet his cousins, Ruth and Chris. We met them at the Rio Grande Zoo to watch the animals open Christmas gifts. The zoo had a Holiday Enrichment for the Animals. The zookeepers spread the holiday cheer to some of the animals by decorating their areas and giving them presents. They did this for the primates, elephants and cats. It was a lot of fun watching as they sniffed the packages, ripped them open and ate the food that was hidden inside. They all seemed to really enjoy the activity. We spent the most time watching the gorillas and the orangutans. They really got into the swing of things and made us laugh. Besides watching the animals open gifts we wandered around the zoo and enjoyed all the other animals as well. It was an extremely pleasant morning since there were very few people present and we didn't have to fight to see the animals. There was a mother orangutan with her baby (Reese) - it was nice to see the mother holding the baby and still participating in the fun.

After a couple of hours we left the zoo and decided to head to Old Town to find something to eat for lunch. We parked and walked for a short time and then went to La Placita Dining Rooms for lunch. It was great food and a great place - I do recommend it if you are in Old Town. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and talked about the morning and just relaxed. It was a great day and we enjoyed our time at the zoo and our visit with Ruth and Chris. Below are some pictures of our morning at the zoo.