Sunday at the National Zoo

Today we visited the Smithsonian National Zoo which is on a 163 acre site in Washington DC.  

It was the first time that I have seen Giant Pandas.  They have a baby panda - Bao-Bao there but he had climbed a tree and was quite difficult to spot, let alone photograph.  His parents were more visible,  they were both indoors - his father was eating bamboo at an amazing rate and his mother was having a nap.  

She was in good company as quite a few animals were snoozing, especially as the day got warmer..

We were most impressed by the Andean Spectacled bear who remained fast asleep despite being uncomfortably wedged in a tree.

Other animals were rather more alert..

We were impressed by the size and quality of the enclosures as well as the range of animals.

The Orangutan had a good size enclosure divided into two sections with un-enclosed ropes high over the paths to join them together.  They were making the most of the opportunities to show their prowess on the ropes..

The zoo, like all the Smithsonian institutions is free entry for all and was very busy with lots of families but the facilities are good and we had a lovely day.