Day 3 (September 26, 2026): Calgary Zoo and some key Calgary sights

Exhaustion and the time change made it difficult to get out of the hotel on time this morning.  It was 9:15AM by the time we headed off to the Calgary Zoo.  That's still pretty good, I guess, all things considered. The zoo was one busy spot on a Saturday morning!  So many families were enjoying the place - it was nice to see. 

The Calgary Zoo -- officially named the Wilder Institute's Calgary Zoo -- is located just east of the city's downtown. It is home to over 1,000 animals, excluding individual fish and insects, and 272 different species. The 125-acre zoo is organized into distinct zones: Destination Africa, Wild Canada, Penguin Plunge, Dorothy Harvie Botanical Gardens and ENMAX Conservatory, Exploration Asia, and Prehistoric Park. It is Canada's most visited zoo and has received international recognition as one of the top zoos in the world for conservation research.

We walked over 6KM in the zoo, and we loved it all!  Mind you, we were in need of some Tim's coffee and food by the time we left the zoo at 1:45PM.  Recharged with coffee, we then headed off to see a few sights for the rest of the afternoon. We started at Crescent Heights Lookout Point for great views of Calgary's core. Next, we headed into the city core for some souvenir shopping, a walk on Stephen Avenue (a pedestrian zone in the heart of downtown), took in views of the Calgary Tower and Saddledome, and then walked the famous Peace Bridge.

It was 5:45PM when we packed in the sightseeing and headed back to the Northeast, where we are staying, for good ol' Swiss Chalet for dinner.

It's hard not to be happy when you see animals. And the Calgary Zoo made us all quite happy today. Next up: Drumheller, tomorrow morning.  Can't wait.


Ready to start our zoo experience!

Magellanic penguins



Fake zoo hoo doos!

Bactrian camel with Eurasian magpie perched on its head.

White-handed gibbon

Malayan tapirs

Snow leopard

Sichuan takin

Red panda

Amur tiger

Turkmenian markhor



Chilean flamingoes

Red river hog

Hartmann mountain zebra

African lions

Black-and-white ruffed lemur

Rock hyraxes - they just stare at you!  They get the "cute prize" among all the animals.

Slender-tailed merkeet

African crested porcupine

Hippopotamus

Masai giraffes

Western lowland gorilla

Baby western lowland gorilla

Mandrill

Eastern black-and-white colobus monkey

Woodland caribou

Muskox

North American river otter

Polar bear

Gray wolf

Black bear

Grizzly bear

The view of downtown Calgary from Crescent Heights Lookout Point.


The iconic Calgary Tower.

Stephen Avenue Walk in downtown Calgary.

Earl... at Earl's!

Stephen Avenue Walk.


The Saddle Dome, home of the Calgary Flames.

The slick and sleek BMO Events Centre.

Calgary's iconic Peace Bridge opened in 2010.

Here comes the rain!  Actually, it was brief and was the only rainy time in our entire visit.



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