I can’t even tell you how excited I was when the post for the San Antonio Zoo‘s first ever DRIVE THRU ZOO came across my Facebook feed.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one. The event sold out within a few hours.
If you’ve ever been to the San Antonio Zoo, you know how nice and wide the sidewalks are. They curve and meander between trees and enclosures, up and down over gentle inclines and a few steep ones.
Viewing the San Antonio Zoo from My Car
My family and I have been long time zoo enthusiasts. The San Antonio Zoo, located in Breckenridge Park, is our favorite.
We thought it would be fun (or at least different) to load up in my car and drive through our home zoo, as advertised, at a sloth’s pace. This bizarre opportunity, born out of the zoo’s financial distress during the CoVid-19 pandemic and originally planned for one weekend, cost me $40US for whoever could fit in my car.
I invited my immediate family.
Sunday’s a Great Day to Drive Thru the Zoo
We decided to go on Sunday.
With two days of other people driving through the zoo, I felt like the kinks in the system would be worked out. And they were. The point many of the commenters on Facebook seemed to miss was the Drive Thru Zoo event was a fundraising effort to keep the zoo going. It costs plenty to feed so many critters. I felt like the idea was ingenious – good for the institution and good for the guests – and we were happy we could support one of our organizations.
When we passed the guy who was counting cars, there had already been 500 cars through the gate before us that day! Woo hoo!
Getting Out of the House!
Being a nonessential worker, this was my first big foray out of the house since self-quarantining started.
Originally, my husband planned to join my kids and I. Once he saw the route through the zoo and I told him the wait to get in was two or three times longer than the actual drive through the zoo, he decided it best if someone stay home with our puppies.
Two Hours in a Parking Lot!
All the cars you see here, beyond the sign and in my side mirror, were waiting with us to get into the zoo. We zigged and zagged for almost two hours.
Fortunately, the people in my car all like the same sort of music. And our singing talents are loud and awesome.
The Front Gate!
When we reached this point, we were like “yes! We’re practically there!” not knowing there was another 45-minute maze to complete.
Driving Through the Zoo!
Here’s clearing the gate with our deluxe pack of snacks (drinks, popcorn and nachos).
That’s the GoPro on the dash. It was our first time using the GoPro. So.
GoPro Movie!
I read somewhere the San Antonio Zoo originally had carts that carried visitors around the grounds. Which I believe was the impetus for this event.
I’m an okay driver. And this curvy course would make an excellent driver’s test, if it didn’t put all these endangered animals in harm’s way. I wasn’t as concerned with my children’s safety. I’ve been driving some combination of these three around for twenty-five years and so far so good.
After all this hype, I hope you’re not disappointed by the video*
*Editing a GoPro Movie is trickier than I expected. As soon as I figure it out, I’ll post.
That was pretty much my view as driver. I was too worried about rear-ending the car ahead of me to look around much. Then, naturally, the GoPro overheated and shut off when we were getting to the best part.
I did enjoy the day. Getting out of the house, hanging out with my mostly grown kids singing songs like Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey” and Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” and seeing the San Antonio Zoo from a different perspective. That of patron and not just a hot, tired mom misplacing her children in the frog house.
Did you Drive Thru the Zoo?
