The zoo was high on our must sees in Melbourne.  Given that our first full day there was going to be dry, we dashed off to this highly rated attraction as soon as we woke up and had breakfast at the Melbourne Central Mall.  It was there where I saw kangaroos and koalas for the very first time in my life.  It was for Marc's too.

This beautiful steel sculpture made of recycled materials greeted us.

I have been to many zoos in my life.  I have been to one in my native Manila decades ago as a child, the zoo in Madrid, Spain, and to the several zoos in the US both on the East and West Coasts.  A visit to Australia though was not going to be complete if we didn't get to see a kangaroo and a koala.

Kangaroos galore at the Melbourne Zoo

Me next to a kangaroo.  It was not really dangerous nor scary being close to the kangaroos.  First of all, they were very young and therefore still small in size.  I assumed the Melbourne Zoo officials did this on purpose so no one would get hurt.  The visitors were at any rate very respectful of the animals and left them alone.  No one went too close to pat them nor feed them.

There were emus as well within the confines of the kangaroos.  Lots of them walking about peacefully.

Here's Marc standing very close to an emu.

I had a truly difficult time in the beginning differentiating between an emu and an ostrich.  They both looked very similar to each other.  Going through all the pictures we took at the zoo, I found these two pictures that finally helped me distinguish one from the other.  The picture above is that of an emu.  Look at the fine feathers covering its body.

The picture below, on the other hand, is that of an ostrich with the giraffe and the zebra.  If you look closely, the bird's body is covered with regular looking feathers similar to those that usually cover all other birds' bodies.

A closer shot of the ostrich

What beautiful giraffes!

Giraffes eating

This is a group of visitors huddled around a zoo keeper who was giving some info about the zebras, giraffes, and ostriches.

The other animal we had to see was the koala.  I just saw one at the Australian Museum in Sydney.  That however didn't count since it was stuffed and preserved.  Here was the real thing.

More koalas

The Meerkats

The Budgerigars

This Budgerigar parrot is so cute!

Some multi-colored parrots and cockatoos

Guinea Fowls all over the zoo

Pelicans

The Fijian green crested iguana

More of the Fijian green crested iguanas

Howdy?

Gorillas

The brightly colored male mandril

I love this shot.  The boy's facial expression is priceless.

Gorilla parents taking care of their baby from a rope suspended from trees

A shot of the baby gorilla being cared for by its parents on a rope suspended from some trees inside their cage.  This cage was particularly packed with visitors with everyone trying to catch a glimpse of the the cute baby.

The white cheeked gibbon

The Black and White Colobus

See the mother colobus on the right with her baby?  She was another crowd pleaser at the zoo.  Hundreds, and I mean hundreds of visitors were trying to get a glimpse of her.  She was that popular of an attraction at the time of our visit.

Another kind of gorillas

This is an Asian elephant from Thailand.  I rode one of these elephants when I first visited Bangkok years ago.

I had fun visiting the Melbourne Zoo.  Now I can say I have personally seen a kangaroo and a koala.  On our third day in Melbourne, we planned to do another bllitzkrieg of its historical buildings.  See you soon.