Being Touristy - the Smithsonian National Zoo

This week, my roommate and I spent an afternoon feeling like little kids again by venturing out to the Smithsonian National Zoo. It was such a fun afternoon. We were probably the only ones there without small children, but even if you don't have kids, visiting the zoo is something I'd definitely recommend to do in DC.

One nice thing about the Smithsonian National Zoo was that it was not overcrowded, like zoos often are. We weren't blocked by crowds or large groups of obnoxious school children when trying to see the animals. It was great. Granted, our visit may have been an exception. It was a weekday afternoon. Also, a teen was stabbed in a fight at the zoo the day before. Don't worry though! Stabbings aren't a frequent occurrence at the National Zoo. My visit was very pleasant and peaceful.

A visit to the National Zoo is not something you'll need to plan a whole day for. The zoo is on the smaller side. My roommate and I spent about 3 hours there and saw everything we wanted to see, which was almost the entire zoo.

The best part of the zoo, though: it's free. I would suggest bringing with you a bottle of water though. Water is $3 a bottle inside the zoo.

The National Zoo has some great exhibits that you won't find everywhere else. The most famous, of course, are the giant pandas. It took a while for us to find Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. They weren't in their large outdoor exhibit and we were very worried we wouldn't get to see the zoo's main attraction. Fortunately we found them in their indoor rooms, both fast asleep. They were snoozing away the whole time we were there, but it was still cool to see one in person.

While the giant pandas are the National Zoo's claim to fame, I found the red pandas to be much cooler. They were out and about, running around all over their exhibit. They kind of look like raccoons, but much cuter. I could've just taken one of these guys home with me as a pet! But I don't think the zoo would've liked that...

My other favorite part of the zoo was the great cats exhibit. Here, you'll find a beautiful Sumatran tiger. He lives by himself and was out walking around, stalking his cage like he owned the place. In the exhibit next door is an entire family of African lions, including a whole bunch of cubs! I felt like I was watching the real-life lion king, except instead of being trampled by wildebeests, the dad just kinda hangs out at the top of the exhibit watching over the lionesses and their cubs. The cubs were so much fun to watch. A bunch of them were running around, playing and wrestling with each other. When they'd start to get a little rough, momma lion would come in and scold them with a little roar. Very cool exhibit unlike anything I've ever seen at a zoo before.

Last but not least, towards the zoo entrance you will find two cheetahs. I've never seen a cheetah in a zoo before. They are beautiful animals. Each has their own separate exhibit, and both simply walked back and forth along its perimeter, so much that they had carved a path in the ground. One cheetah's exhibit bordered the zebra exhibit. He seemed pretty angry he couldn't get to them on the other side of the fence.

Overall, the Smithsonian National Zoo is a great place to visit in Washington DC. It won't take up your entire day, if you have limited time, and it's free, so you don't have much of an excuse not to go. It's open every day, 10a.m.-6p.m. April-October, and 10a.m.-4:30p.m. November-March. It's located at 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW and within walking distance of the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan metro station and Cleveland Park metro station (both on the red line).