Melissa and I spent a few hours at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, which used to be called the Vancouver Game Farm when I lived in Aldergrove from ages 13-17. I only went for the first time last year in the spring, when I took Melissa and Michael by myself. I don't think any self-respecting high school student at FVAA would be caught dead actually going to the Vancouver Game Farm. I think it's changed a lot over the years, though, re-branding itself as the Greater Vancouver Zoo and adding more animals. And I'm sure it totally takes people by surprise when they first discover it's an hour's drive out of Vancouver.
OK, next time I am NOT going to leave the house without my watch. Melissa and I waited nearly an hour to take the Zoo train, and then when I asked someone what the time was, she told me it was 3:30, so we started to head for the station, which was less than 100m away. When we got there, the train was about to leave! It turned out to be 3:45, and our train was due to leave at 3:40! I was really disappointed, especially for Melissa, who had waited all that time and was also disappointed to see it pulling away from the station without us. So we spent the next hour looking at the animals in the immediate vicinity of the train station, because I was determined not to miss the 4:40 train. We were early in the lineup, which was fortuitous since there were people who didn't make it on the train.
Melissa waiting for the Zoo train.
One of the advantages of taking the train versus walking around the Zoo is the proximity of viewing for the hippo habitat. Melissa got a little freaked out when the giraffe walked right towards our raised platform and was at eye-level. The area below the railing for the platform is plexi-glass (or was it glass??), so to a small child it must be very scary to have such a big animal come straight at you.
Mr. Giraffe
