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Friday, December 10, 2010

My Calgary Zoo, Zoolights report.

The last time I had you guys at the Zoo in Calgary was for the Gorilla Run. That was tons of fun and so was this.

Every Year the Zoo sets up light displays totalling in the Millions of lights for the enjoyment of the paying public. they call it ZooLights I am sure the Zoo is pretty slow in the winter, what with the sun coming up a noon and going down at 3pm these days, it must be hard to attract big crowds to see the regular exhibits. This is a really fun way to bring the public in. They kind of get sneaky though.

We had a coupon for 2 for 1, so we save $10.00 entry, but as we were having our supper there in the restaurant it was an additional $29.00 given up for the cause. $29.00 for

2 – 3 packs of chicken strips

2- regular size fries

1- chicken breast burger

2- bottled waters

1- Orange juice.

Oh, it did include all the condiments we could eat.

They had us at ‘Welcome to the Zoo” Ah well, tis the price we pay for the good life here in Calgary. (sarcasm)

However. If we are smart (we are not) and eat PRIOR to coming into the Zoo, the whole deal only costs $17.00. So not bad, I guess. We spent 2 hours there (it was very cold, but we were very well dressed and enjoyed our entire visit) and generally had a fantastic time!

After you enter the Zoo proper, you cross a bridge over the river and this is what greets us! Wow!

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Right outside the Cafe where we ate are these big plastic tubes that are used as slides for the kids. Andrew has a great time. We spent at least a half hour here in 2 separate visits.

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All along the Zoo, they have these BIG firepits that are godsends when it is cold like tonight. every 200 meters or so is a cozy spot to warm up your nose. Here is the rest of the photo tour… These were all taken with my DSLR, not the little green camera… The key to all of these shots are a stable base for the camera, so there is no movement during the long delay open shutter for all the non flash shots.

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They have places all over the zoo with Kids activities. These are Styrofoam blocks that you can build anything with. There were sled races (daddy powered), snowman bowling etc.etc… Andrew really had a blast.

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On the way out  couldn’t resist an attempt at this shot. Turned out pretty cool. (No tweaking to the photo, just a long shutter delay of about 3-4 seconds to gather the light)

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That’s it for tonight. I am plowing later, so send me a message at nzeller at shaw dot ca, just to keep me company overnight as I clear the parking lots for Calgary’s workers

9 comments:

  1. Really beautiful lights and you captured it so well.

    We have tried to build so many igloos like that over the years out of snow. We use Rubbermaid bread box containers to shape the bricks. Somehow the whole thing never gets to be very big. I guess styrofoam works better.
    Frances - aka "Barefoot Fresca"

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  2. I love zoolites!!! Great photos, you really captured it well.
    catching up on my reading!!

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  3. LOVE the pictures. I can never get nighttime pictures to show up very well.

    The phoenix zoo does the same thing but I feel that it isn't half as cool as yours.

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  4. Found out there's a promotion going on to get 2for1 entry to Zoolights! Just have to buy a Fiasco Gelato pack at Co-op and bring your receipt to the zoo. Plus $2 from the purchase also gets donated back to the zoo! Just wanted to share that with some of your readers! Enjoy!

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    Replies
    1. Hey thanks. This post is before I had cured myself of my general cynicism. I love it all now! more than worth every penny!

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