Posted by I’ve always been a huge zoo enthusiast. To me, zoos are simply quieter amusement parks. There are still rides. There is delicious food. And you get to see animals! I grew up visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo and plan on being a regular zoo patron throughout my life. The theme park resort I want to open will have a zoological theme park. I want to design it with AZA accreditation in mind, plus lots of thrilling rides, attractions, and places to relax. As a result, I have a built-in excuse to visit the zoo as much as possible.
On this website, trip reports will be handled a little bit differently than park reviews. They will be much simpler, just covering what I did and how my experience was. So, let’s dive in!
Hogle Zoo, in Salt Lake City, has been closed for a while. So the moment I got wind of their opening date, I immediately made plans to visit. Fortunately, my family was scheduled to be in town the weekend of the opening, and they agreed that the zoo would be a fun Saturday afternoon activity. So we bought our tickets a few days in advance, and ultimately arrived at the zoo on Saturday at around 3:30 PM.
*“First Day Out” plays in the background*
Upon entering, I first took a quick picture of the map. For sanitation reasons, they weren’t giving out paper maps like they usually do. A few things were closed, such as the indoor exhibits. The three rides, the Conservation Carousel, the Zoofari Express, and the Lighthouse Splash Zone, were also all closed, albeit temporarily.
The first animals we saw were the giraffes, pretty close to the zoo’s entrance.
We were only able to proceed one way through the zoo due to their current guidelines. But we decided to linger around the giraffes for a bit, just enjoying the first lovely weather Utah’s had in months.
We saw the lions next. This one was sunbathing, and promptly rolled over to take a nap after that.
Then we went to see the primates. I forgot which species these are. I expect as I start to attend zoos more regularly, I will get better acquainted with this.
After the primates, it was time to encounter some elephants. And we were in for a fun time.
After that, it was time to see some marine life!
Time to see some bears!
Then we went up to the Asian Highlands area. I think that’s what it’s called. Then we hung out with some tigers!
After seeing the big cats, we went to see these goat-like things. I’m sorry, folks. I am being quite unscientific here. If I want to run my own zoo one day, I really need to get my crap together. 😛
Why are his eyes so narrowed, yet unfocused? Why is there a stream of water…nope, nope, never mind.
I started to feel a bit of heat exhaustion at this point, despite it being only 71 degrees (F) and despite the fact that I was drinking quite a bit out of my HydroFlask. I chalk it up to hiking Stewart Falls earlier that day, plus doing a pretty intense push-up workout before that, and the fact that Utah’s weather has been quite bipolar up until today. Also, since we were not allowed to backtrack, I drank less water so I wouldn’t need to refill or use the bathroom when I didn’t need it (this plan failed, as I ended up needing to go when I couldn’t later in the day anyway). Regardless, it doesn’t matter. We’re getting back into gear! The warm season in Utah, my favorite time of year, is encroaching, and it’s going to be awesome!
After that, it was BIRD TIME.
I like cats, in case you can’t tell.
After the birds and bobcats, it was meerkat time! At around now, some lady yelled at us because we accidentally walked in the wrong direction. WHOOPS
After that, we went to see some gorillas and orangutans.
Towards the end, things started to go a little south. I had to pee, and the staff at the exit gave me the clear to backtrack to find a bathroom. Unfortunately, I was yelled at by other staff, a little ways down the road, for going the wrong direction. When I tried to explain my dilemma and the urge to answer nature’s call, I was given conflicting instructions from different staff members as to which particular restrooms were actually open and available, and whether or not I was allowed to backtrack to use the restroom. This was very stressful, and at this point the zoo was almost closed. So, I just left and we used the restroom at a gas station.
Under normal circumstances, this would not have been very difficult, but due to the Great Overreaction of 2020…we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do. I think that other than this small hiccup, Hogle Zoo has done a great job keeping their zoo at a high quality. While a few members of the staff were a bit stressful to deal with, they are not normally like this, and I would say that the overwhelming majority of the staff I interacted with on this trip were quite friendly. I think the ones that got mad at us were just stressed out – and who wouldn’t be at this time? Plus, I have had very positive interactions with the Zoo on Facebook messenger, and have enjoyed their livestreams, so I would say that overall this is not representative of them. Also, first day open, stakes are high.
Overall, we had a great trip to the Hogle Zoo. While I’m still trying to decide whether or not I want a membership (it’s pretty expensive), I will definitely be back again soon. This zoo is a jewel of Salt Lake!