We have been meaning to head out to the Bronx Zoo for a while now. It’s the 4th of July long weekend so I figured it would probably be a quieter day. Most New Yorkers flee the city at any opportunity especially a Holiday weekend. Most head off to The Hampton's or upstate. Its summer so a beach location seems to be ideal in this heat. I invested in a family membership which includes the other 4 parks which we will use also. Most of the memberships we have we are really getting great use of too.
I studied the MTA map and it worked out we only had to catch the number 2 train all the way there. Unfortunately as we got to the station we were advised there was work on that line. It would mean we would have to disembark at 148st and catch a shuttle bus. Most of the work done on the subways is done on the weekends.
One thing that has been quite evident when on the subway is how quickly the demographics change as you enter or leave different areas. This once again was evident as we ventured out of the bubble of the Upper West Side and entered into the upper areas of Manhattan/Harlem and eventually the Bronx. I know from many movies and most of the news I read and watch here that the Bronx is a place where life is tough. The Bronx does have a reputation of crime and unfortunately it comes from the low socio economic demographics.
As we bordered the Shuttle bus the demographics were basically all African American and Latinos. As we drove along the freeway my first observation was the large amount of Graffiti. There seems also to be a lot of poverty and a lot of project housing. It’s a very different world and in a way it was refreshing to me to see a different side of New York. A side the tourist buses never get too.
It was about a 10 minute walk from the bus stop to the zoo and along the way there were many street sellers with esky type coolers selling water and soda. We stopped to buy water and it seemed the gentleman had a bit of trouble with Hugo’s Aussie Accent (LOL). I spoke to him in Spanish and he seemed to be somewhat happy and demonstrated that warm and hospitable nature so much part of Latin culture.
We got to the Zoo and had a magnificent day. I absolutely loved this zoo and was so impressed with the layout. Most of the animals are able to have habitats that feel like they are not caged in. My favorite was the Gorilla enclosure where you have a glass panel in this section between the public and the gorillas. This gorilla came up to us and it was standing right in front of me. I have never been that close to such a creature.
The trip out of the city has made me crave traveling again. As Hugo has only been with the company 3 months he is not due for any vacations so we will have to do weekend getaways for a while. Hopefully we can do one in the next couple of weeks.
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