Greater Vancouver Zoo - Aldergrove

by Jenavieve

Activity:

Did you know the tallest giraffe ever measured was almost 20 feet tall?  And did you also know giraffes only need 4 1/2 hours of sleep per day?  Tell your Mom that next time she says you need ten hours of sleep.  If you've never gotten close to a giraffe before, I know where you can see a live one:  The Greater Vancouver Zoo.  Nathe said he once rode down the giraffe's neck and got off at its head, but I don't believe him--for one thing, how did he get on the giraffe's head in the first place?!  They also have lions and tigers at the zoo.  I saw a lion just like Simba and Nathe saw a tiger like Cher-Khan.  The monkeys were funny, especially the ones with a red face and blue bum.

Nathe likes the dark tunnel the best.  Believe it or not, there's bats living in there.  We even took pictures of them.   It took us a long time to find the hippos.  You know why--they live in the water.  We never did see a whole one, only its horns and the top of its back.  We didn't get to see all the animals because my legs were tired.  The zoo is 120 acres big ya know--that's a lot of steps.  So we rode the tiny train instead, and that's how we saw the rest.

Age group:

All ages.  Everybody laughs when they're looking at the monkeys.

Expense rating:

Please refer to the website below for current rates.

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You know what I like best about the zoo?  I get to see for real all the animals in my pop-up book.  Some of them live really far away, like Africa.  I've never been to Africa, and I don't think we'll go there for summer vacation either.  So if it wasn't for the zoo, I might never see a giraffe in my whole entire life.

Nathan likes the zoo because Mom and Dad let him take pictures of all the animals.  Except one time he took a picture of his foot.  Boy did we laugh hard when the pictures came back.

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It takes a long time to get to the zoo--almost as long as two Arthur shows.  By the time we get there, Nathe and I have usually had at least a couple of fights.

What Mom doesn't like about the zoo is the food place.  It doesn't have much to pick from, and the coffee is too weak.  Dad thinks the tigers need more room to roam around. 

Details:

5048 264th Street, Aldergrove; call 604-856-6825 for more information.

Take the Trans Canada highway east.  After about 27 kilometres from the Port Mann bridge, you'll see a signpost saying Aldergrove/US border/264 St. (exit 73).  Take it, and go south on Highway 13 about 1 km.  Website: www.gvzoo.com

Also checkout the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park.

Area:

Aldergrove 

Season:

The zoo is open all year round, but I don't think it'd be much fun walking around looking at animals in the rain or snow. 

Educational highlights:

Going to the zoo lets me see what animals look like and what they do in real life.  Now I know lions sleep a lot and hippos live in water.  At my age you can't learn everything from a book.  Even Mom was surprised to find out hippos lived in water.  And one time we saw two monkeys fighting over a piece of banana.  You don't see that in a book either.

Fun for the adult?:

Every time we go to the zoo something funny happens.  One time a goat ate my cousin Anna's hat.  And another time Dad's sunglasses slid out of his pocket and fell right into some bison poop.  Boy was that ever funny, because usually Dad's the one to say, "Look out for the doggy do!" whenever we go for a walk.  In the end Dad laughed too--that is after Mom cleaned the poo off his glasses.  You see, even when something bad happens, it can be funny.