We travelled overnight on the Amtrak Crescent in a sleeper compartment (more about Amtrak in a separate blog). Got to our hotel in Atlanta at 10.30 am hoping we could drop our bags off (check in is usually 3 pm) but the very kind receptionist said we could check into our room as it was ready - result.
Had a bit of a lie down and then set off exploring the area. Atlanta has loads to do. It's the home of CNN, Coca Cola and the world's largest aquarium. I'm afraid we just wandered round looking at the shops and buildings and checking out the bars because this was not what we had come to Atlanta for.
Our last full day in USA
The big attraction for us (and by us I mean me) was Zoo Atlanta and the pandas.
http://www.zooatlanta.org/
The zoo has teamed up with Checker taxis to provide free taxis to the zoo from downtown hotels so we got one of these in the morning. I had booked the panda "wild encounter" which is where you get to go "backstage" - that is, behind the scenes of the panda enclosures to meet the keepers and one of the pandas. It cost $160 each and was worth every penny. As I was ridiculously excited we were there early but this gave us chance to see pandas before we met the Education Team. Yang Yang was having a doze (surprise)
Mei Huan and Mei Lun were messing around (as three year old siblings tend to do)
Up to 8 people at a time can join the panda wild encounter but we were lucky enough to be the only 2 so it felt like a private tour.
We were given a chance to go behind the enclosures and see where the bamboo is kept and how it is weighed so they monitor each pandas' intake. We saw a freezer full of samples of panda poo and urine (I've spared you the photo but believe me there is one - what hubby lacks in interest in pandas he makes up for with an interest in photography) and finally we got to meet - Lun Lun.
The lab coat and gloves are to protect the panda from any germs you may be carrying - not you from the panda. Fetching aren't they?
The tour is supposed to last around 45 minutes but we were there well over an hour chatting about all things panda. I'm lucky enough to have seen pandas all over the world including the panda centre in China where the 2 adult pandas in Atlanta came from so we were all swapping stories of experiences there.
After the tour we went and looked at ...you've guessed it ....the pandas. Yang Yang was wide awake now and put on quite a show playing with his food bowl
The sisters hadn't tired themselves out either and they were pushing each other on the swing
So Zoo Atlanta - big thumbs up from me. Had to pay to get in, unlike Washington, but for this reason and also the fact that it was mid week, it was a lot quieter. Atlanta gets very hot and the Zoo plans for this with air conditioned exhibits, plenty of drinking water fountains and misting showers to cool you off. Many of the animals are in air conditioning too. This zoo had a really nice feel to it - and better shops! It also offered the chance to have a "wild encounter" with other animals like tigers,elephants and tortoises etc. We rang for a free taxi back to the hotel and that arrived no problem - excellent service.
All in all this was the perfect end to a perfect trip.
Sadly the next day the only trip we took was to the airport for our flight home. It was a fabulous holiday but now I just want to make like a panda and relax!
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