DAY TRIP: Audubon Zoo is a walk in the park

Calling an audible play for the coming days of Summer could result in a day trip to the Audubon Zoo – which is part of the Audubon Nature Institute – in New Orleans.
Save the address, 6500 Magazine Street, to plug into the family GPS and hit the Opelousas Road (U.S. Highway 190) east bound for a safari into one of greatest zoos in the United States.
Though not ranked in the top ten zoos according to www.uscitytraveler.com, the New Orleans zoo is ranked at number seven by The Huffington Post. Being a top-ranked zoo in the United States puts the Audubon Zoo, first opened in 1914, in the running for one of the best zoos in the world.
Some of the facilities date the zoo. The Sea Lion Park, for instance, was built before the Great Depression. Monkey Hill was built by WPA workers duriing the FDR years. But its age also allows for splendid century-old oaks as a backdrop for visitors going to seek everything from elephants to elks, alligators to adders.
The day trip traveler from Eunice or the Tri-Parish Area should have no trouble finding a free parking spot at the zoo. While the parking is free, it is limited and zoo officials do not seem to mind if patrons park on the grass near Magazine Street – which divides the zoo from the beautiful Audubon Park and public golf course in the astoundingly beautiful and often overlooked Uptown New Orleans.
It may not be an uncommon sight to see a zoo patron towing an ice chest on wheels through the gates of the Audubon Zoo as they are allowed. Ice chests filled with store-bought beverages or water from home can help combat the $3 cups of lemonade and handsomely bottled water sold at the zoo.
Zoo officials allow visitors to bring their own water to help fight dehydration during the hot months. Food can also be brought in from outside the zoo–which offers several food establishments within the grounds. However, with a standard fare of pricey fried chicken strips, French fries, and a heaping helping of standing in line for food, it’s safe to say that the animals of the Audubon Zoo eat better than most of the zoo’s patrons.
Of course feeding and caring for the animals requires money that is collected at the gates of the zoo in the form of admission prices. Be prepared for a $17.50 ticket per each adult and $12 for each child from age two to 12 years old. Hints of the zoo’s inside wonders are outside the gates in the form of promotional materials encouraging folks to visit the zoo’s lemurs and then enjoy the Entergy IMAX theatre’s production of “Island of Lemurs:Madagascar” in 3-D.
Once inside the Audubon Zoo, it’s noted and seems only fitting that the entrance is one that would have made John James Audubon, the noted French-American naturalist, painter of birds, and namesake of the New Orleans zoo, very proud.
Visitors are greeted by a pink flamingo welcoming committee. From there, guests are quickly steered into the petting zoo area complete with tortoises, hedgehogs and, of course, more birds that Audubon would have fixated on and studied.
One species not confined to the zoo are humans who don’t always act as you would like them to, perhaps an accepted though unfortunate part of the tourist scene.
If a day trip can involve a swimsuit, then the Audubon Zoo can accommodate. For some reason, the Audubon Zoo is also part water-park–which is known at the “Cool Zoo Splash Park.” The Cool Zoo portion of the zoo was , without a doubt, could be the most “un-cool” thing about a trip to the zoo and appeared to cheapen the zoo visit with a lowest common denominator of sorts. Human children, not interested in the exotic and strange animals of planet earth, can at least splash around in a veritable “kiddie pool” of wetness and water slides. Somehow the wonder and excitement of the rare creatures gets lost amid the splish-splash cacophony..
The added water-park element of the zoo, combined with the high-stroller traffic make for a sometimes nerve-wracking experience. The strangest and most rare of the creatures can be observed in the form of men armed with SUV-like strollers. Two-seater strollers are pushed empty by confused and lost looking grandfathers and fathers who meander along as if seeking lost children or grandchildren.
As Audubon identified 25 new species of birds, it is possible for the astute zoo visitor to identify at least 10-12 new species of humans at the zoo – which boasts 58 acres and 2,000 animals on display – attracting visitors from all over the Southern United States and beyond.
Any good zoo enthusiast can make the zoo rounds in at least two hours. Dining at the zoo could be seen as “wasting a meal” in New Orleans as the city is riddled with cuisine. However, high stroller traffic and screaming, wet children can be avoided as any local New Orleanian might tell of the ideal time to visit the zoo: weekday mornings.