In these Covid19 times, it is hard to schedule activities for children. We are home all the time; we cannot visit friends and relatives; in-person school is now closed. Wondering where we can take the kids, my wife stumbled upon Reptilia Zoo.
Reptilia is Canada's largest indoor reptile zoo, with 25,000 square feet of indoor exhibits featuring over 250 reptiles, amphibians and arachnids.
Currently there are two Ontario locations, one in Vaughan and one in Whitby. We decided to visit the one at Vaughan. The social distancing protocols were very good. Masks were mandatory (of course!) and they gave us a time slot for the visit. When we went there, we shared the whole museum with only 3 or 4 other families.
I was really surprised at the number (and variety) of animals there. Although it's not a very big place, if you take your time to enjoy each exhibit, you can easily spend an hour or a couple of hours there, especially if you are into photography.
They had quite a number of large crocs (or were they alligators) on display. It's hard to imagine, just looking at them as they just stayed there, lazily bathing in the heat lamp, that these were ferocious creatures who could move fast if needed.
There were also quite a large number of tortoises (both small and large) on show. In addition to spiders, tarantulas and other creepy crawlies.
The snake exhibit was one of the ... longest .... no pun intended. They even had an anaconda, along with various species of pythons and other common snakes.
We were actually lucky to be there around feeding time, so we actually saw how a snake eats a mouse! Poor mouse.
Another large crocodile surfaces from under the water in a large tank. This was next to the place where they had live shows. In normal times, you would touch and pet some (small) reptiles, but due to covid times it was only "see but don't touch" show.
The odd thing was, during the live show, there was actually a marriage proposal! The zookeeper who was conducting the show asked one of the ladies to come join her on stage, and then she was asked to pick a small box from a tray. There was a diamond ring inside, and then that lady's boyfriend went down on one knee to propose!
She said yes, by the way.
Also, given that they already had a kid together (they had a baby in a stroller), the risk of a no is minimized, I think.
The guy is smart. Proposed at a reptile show, and will marry during covid times. Saved a lot of money.
These are the general show times, and feeding times (they can change, of course). If you do visit, try and schedule your visit around a feeding time.
Overall, this was a great place to take your kids (and your camera). It's not too expensive (especially if you book online), and is a great way not only to spend some time, but also to support your local businesses during these tough times.
No comments:
Post a Comment