While in Memphis, Tennessee as guests of the Memphis Visitor Bureau, we spent some time at the Memphis Zoo and Aquarium. Our whole family loves seeing animals so spending an afternoon at the zoo was perfect for us. With each new city, we prefer to find things to do that the locals enjoy. It was interesting to see how different the Memphis Zoo was compared to our local zoo and others we have visited.
First, the Memphis Zoo is huge. We only had a few hours to spare but could have easily spent the entire day. We did a lot of walking around the park. Some of the exhibits were quite a distance from others, so prepare to have comfortable shoes and plenty of water… and sunscreen!
One unique thing we saw throughout the zoo was wading pools. I’ve never seen swimming pools inside a zoo before unless you count the water park at Sea World. So to see younger kids swimming and splashing around was kind of neat, and smart with the hot summer weather.
The best part of our entire visit to the Memphis Zoo was the Giraffe Feeding Adventure. This was a new experience for our family and we had a blast. I seriously could have spent all day visiting with the giraffes.
We spent $5 to get a bundle of large lettuce leaves. The $5 was good for up to four people on the feeding platform. We were able to feed them about ten times with the amount they gave us. So it was plenty.
There was no time limit set for taking photos and visiting with the giraffes. Their tongues were so long they would try and steal your lettuce out of your hand or pocket if you weren’t paying attention. The larger/older giraffes would step over the younger/smaller ones. So if you wanted to feed the babies you had to act fast.
It was such a cool experience!
Have you ever fed a giraffe?
Watch our short video that we shared on Facebook of us feeding the giraffes at the Memphis Zoo. If you haven’t already, like our FB page to stay in touch!
Even with them relaxing in the shade they were still beautiful to see. Some cool things we saw were the bears swimming. Both the Polar Bear and the Grizzly Bear were both playing in the water. The Grizzly even came up to the window and placed his head against where ours was rested. It was pretty neat. We watched him play with his feet in the water and float.
Because it was so hot outside, some of the animals were staying in the indoor exhibits. There was clear signage up to let us know where to find them.
The pandas were some of the indoor animals during our visit. This was the first time our family had seen a panda in real life. They were being fed and it was so cute to see. The zookeeper gave them their food and then they were eager to interact with the zookeeper.
The meerkats were chilling in their habitat. They would pop up ever so often and pose for you to take their photo. They just watched us watch them. The kids found it funny.
We had a great time at the Memphis Zoo and will make another visit when back in town.
Location: 2000 Prentiss Place, Memphis, TN 38112
Hours: 9am-5pm
Cost: Adults $15, kids $10, seniors $14
Parking: $5
Website: www.memphiszoo.org
Phone: 901.333.6500
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It looks like you all had a lot of fun! Feeding the giraffes looked a little unsettling – their tongues are so long! But, it’s an opportunity I’m sure you couldn’t pass up!
Not unsettling at all. We loved it! They would slime you with their tongues if you let them, but completely harmless.
This was a great visit to the zoo. Thank you for sharing it. The giraffes are amazing and the bear’s head looks massive. I am glad he was on the other side of the glass.
Giraffes are cool. I been to many zoos, don’;t think I’ve ever seen a giraffe in real life before.
The Memphis Zoo looks and sounds amazing. My son always loved the zoo when he was little, and so did I. Looks like you all had a fun trip! Thanks for sharing at celebrate It!
That looks like a really neat place to go. Thanks for the great pictures and post.
I just love this blog, I’m home schooling and this would be such a neat lesson.
Great photo. Cute giraffes.