Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo

Last Friday, a friend and I went to the Chattanooga Zoo for their Holiday Lights at the Zoo event. It was a rainy night, which worried me slightly (who wants to juggle an umbrella and a camera?) but it turned out to be the best way to see it!

In the cool, dark evening rain, the animals were more visible than normal, the lights were beautiful, and the rain provided lots of great reflections in the wet pavement. It was perfect for photography. And best of all, there was hardly anyone else there! It was like having the place to ourselves. Always a plus in my book. 

What follows are mostly pictures from our short visit. So let’s walk around a bit, decorate some cookies, and see what the animals are up to. 

Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Enter through the gift shop and down the path towards the action
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Christmas lights!
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
This house is fun for posing next to (say hello to Jace, our resident male model)
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Look how empty it is! Yay!
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
I love these benches!

The most touching animal encounter of the evening was with the chimpanzees. One was sitting right by the window giving kisses and playing peek a boo with some kids and their adults. 

Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Normally, the coyote is pacing around. Tonight, he poses nicely on this rock for us. 
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The rain makes everything look better! I love this bridge going towards the Himalayan Passage
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
A warrior on the pagoda
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The red panda is so cute! #lookitdempaws
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
precious Avi (I think that’s his/her name)
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Fireplace in the farmhouse chicken coop
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
It is actually raining quite a bit…
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The peacocks and peahens like to roost on top of this bridge–we counted five up there!
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The Cougar Express, where you view the big cats from a train car.
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The sloth with his eyes open! He even moved…a little
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Around the chimp caves
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The aviary path
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Lights in the bamboo forest

Most of the event action is back at the Education Center, way at the back of the zoo. In here, you’ll find a photo op with an appropriately jovial Santa Claus. (At one point, with no one to take pictures with, he roamed the room and talked to kids while they colored or at their cookies.) 

There were tables set up with coloring sheets and crayons, an assembly-line cookie decorating station, an animal artifact encounter, even a live organist playing Christmas tunes! It was well done, and where I saw the most people in one place during the evening. 

Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The action in the Education Center
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
My favorite path in the zoo–it’s not lit up for Christmas, it’s always this way!
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Hot Cocoa Hot Tub in the (very stinky) Jaguar room
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
A basket full of tiny monkeys! I forget what these guys are–they’re across from the cotton-top tamarins
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The cotton-top tamarins are so cute! 
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Most people seemed to miss this mulch path next to the chimps–I felt like I had discovered something
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
My favorite crane names of all time–Niles & Frasier
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Pagoda warrior #1
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Pagoda warrior #2
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo
The statue of Hank, the zoo’s beloved chimpanzee
Christmas at the Chattanooga Zoo

There is one more weekend to visit the Holiday Lights at the Chattanooga Zoo this coming Friday and Saturday, the 21-22. The event lasts from 5:30-8:00 pm and costs $12 for adults, $8 for kids and half those prices for zoo members. 

Maybe if you get lucky, it will have rained… 

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    Sara Beth Written by:

    We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. – Jawaharlal Nehru

    One Comment

    1. Betsy Wade
      December 19, 2018
      Reply

      Everything was beautiful in the rain! It’s been ages since we’ve been to the zoo.

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