Yes I know, “they’re writing about another zoo?” And yes. Yes I am. I love animals ok. I always wanted to be a vet when I was a kid, and even through high school I was thinking of doing a captive animals course at university or TAFE so that I could actually work at a zoo or wildlife sanctuary. Seeing animals in the flesh just fulfils something inside of me, and makes me want to care for anything that needs help. So when my parents asked if I wanted to go to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, of course I was excited to say yes.
The entry building is so beautiful. Something about the architecture, just making it look like an animal castle, it grabs my inner child’s attention and just pulls me in to see all the amazing creatures. Anyway, first up were the reptiles! Now I know reptiles can be very boring, but just think about the evolution of these creatures (my partner would be real proud of me right now). The bright and wonderful colours used to deter predators from eating them. Shells used to retreat into and hide. The amount of venom one can use to kill another animal. Every single reptile here displays how they have evolved to survive, whether they’re predator or prey. Now I don’t think that’s boring at all!
Something I love about Taronga Zoo is the amount of shows they have throughout the day. If you get there in the morning and stay until the afternoon you can see most of them if you want to (some of them are on at the same time so you’ll have to argue with your friends or family which one is better). My favourite would have to be the bird show, so if you’re there at this time, do not miss it! They have trained and displayed so many different birds, including the sulphur crested and red tailed cockatoo, barn owl and even a wedge tailed eagle! This eagle shows off it’s hunting skills in the show by breaking open a fake emu egg by throwing a stone at it. The whole show just had me mesmerised. I love birds if you couldn’t tell. But everything about the show just brings you in and you can’t stop watching. Plus you get a sweet view of Sydney Harbour behind the whole event.
We also saw the seal show, which was such a childhood nostalgia moment for me. I guess going to SeaWorld almost every year as a kid would be the reason for this. But anyway, they had a few different seals on during the show. It’s so interesting to see the connection between the different trainers and their animals. Every seal had the basic tricks like waving. But each one had a special trick of their own. There was acting like a shark, swimming around with one flipper out of the water (this one was really cute actually). There was jumping out of the water again and again like a dolphin. There were seals doing hand stands. And my favourite, as someone who was sitting towards the back of the stadium, a seal swimming along the front of the pool, splashing flippers full of water on people. These people would’ve been completely soaked by the end of it. I guess that’s what you’re getting yourself in for when you get front row centre at a seal show.
One of my favourite enclosures at Taronga Zoo would be the lions and tigers. Now, I love hippos, capybaras, turtles and dingoes. But lions and tigers aren’t an animal you see often, even at zoos. And you never really see how active they are either, until Taronga Zoo. I’ve never heard a tiger roar before, not in real life anyway. He looked so beautiful until this defining roar flowed out and you’re reminded how dangerous such a creature can be. It’s like you’re hypnotised by the bright orange and mesmerising black stripes, you forget that one could kill another living creature so quick. The lions are just the same. This one lion was just sitting right at the window, so calm and regal. She was so beautiful and stunning. So big but so graceful. But just a few taps on the glass from an oblivious kid sent her into a rage, launching at the kid from behind the glass, scratching at the window. I don’t know how that kid stayed standing after that. I definitely wouldn’t be.
You guessed it! I went to the gift shop on the way out. Come on, I just had to. There were so many things to choose from in there. Jewellery, plushies, clothes, mugs, magnets, pens, etc, etc. I guess big zoo means big gift shop. So obviously I bought a stuffed animal, a cute little weighted hippo I named Harper (yes I still name all my plushies, and yes their first letter has to match the first letter of the animal). But I wasn’t going home with only one stuffed hippo. I also bought a really cool bracelet! This bracelet tracks an animal you pick out and also gives 10 percent of the proceeds to a charity helping that animal. So I picked out a lion bracelet with a lion named Kwenia. You can download the Fahlo app and track your animal and their information. It’s really cool that you can see their story too! Wow I’m really geeking out here. Anyway, so I may or may not have ordered five more bracelets online. But it’s for charity so I’m not wasting money… not really.
Taronga Zoo was such an amazing destination. Even if you just want to go on a day trip like we did, or you’re planning a holiday to Sydney Australia, you need to go to the zoo. Honestly, the zoo is a must-do activity for any holiday, especially if you’re an expert animal lover like me. Even though I only live a couple of hours away from Sydney, the day still felt like a holiday to me. I’m not sure if it’s because there are so many animals from all over the world, or because it was so healing for my inner child, or because Taronga Zoo just gives holiday destination vibes. Either way, I had the best time there, and I can’t wait to visit again!
All photos in this post are taken by me.
The Travel Journal 
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