St. Louis: Curiosities from the zoo

Mm... an artistic replica of a dead deer in the tree.

No I did not put it there!

There is something not quite right about this statue...

These might just be the world's ugliest camels

(but I'm sure they have great personalities!).

St. Louis Zoo: Adventures with my driver

A black SUV was waiting to transport me to the St. Louis Zoo. The others in my group had predictably chosen grown-up options, such as the brewery tour and a trip to the arches, I was niether ashamed nor envious about my somewhat childish choice. In fact, I was frickin excited.

My request for clear, blue skies had been denied by the St. Louis weather department however, nothing could dampen my spirits. Like an annoying eight year old, I peppered my driver with questions about the zoo; What animals do they have? Is it big? How big? Do they have elephants? What about tigers?

I had worn my sneakers as it was going to be a quick tour but I was determined to see as much as possible in my short amount of time. So much so that I almost flew out of the black-tinted windowed car as soon as we stopped.

Alex galantly escorted me through the entire zoo, complete with his three piece suit, dress shoes and umbrella over my head to shield me from the weather. Although I would have been happy to see it by myself it was much more fun with someone else in tow.

My favorite was his commentary. Upon seeing an enclosure and no animal, I would ask, "what's supposed to be in here?" searching for the animal hidden away trying to live with dignity. He would reply, "It's probably dead." in his great Russian accent. This became a running gag, that and his eagerness to wake every animal from their slumber for my amusement. At one point he offered to take a duckling for me as a gift, I had to stop him from chasing the poor little thing down the road and into the pond. Overall, awesome zoo. Great driver. Thanks Alex!