The Brevard Zoo

My girls are 100% drawn to animals. It doesn’t matter what animal it is either: a dog being walked by our campsite, a spider on the wall and anything in between! And apparently, our viewers are too! Our YouTube video with the most views is of a crane walking in the water in Virginia. We can work hard to edit a video that we think will get a lot of likes, but the ones that get the most are the turtles walking through a campground or a crane in the water. The people have spoken! You all love animals too!

This is why we love sharing the videos we’ve taken at aquariums and zoos. It’s great because the girls love animals so much and we can partake in something they love, but we also are getting to go to many aquariums and zoos that we wouldn’t go to otherwise. Check out our Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Aquarium Video in Myrtle Beach, SC or our write-up of Sea Life in Orlando, FL.

This week’s visit was to the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, FL. A friend wrote to us suggesting we go check out this zoo. She said it had an area to rent kayaks to paddle around and see the animals up close. How could we not want to go?

Like usual, we chose to visit this zoo on a weekday hoping it wouldn’t be as packed as on a weekend. It was not overly packed even with a few school groups and we had no problems walking around or taking our time at certain exhibits.

Upon arriving to the property, there were a lot of parking spaces, requiring only a short walk to the entrance, which was clearly labeled.

You can buy tickets online through their website or buy them at the gate. We opted to get them at the gate because we weren’t able to apply Jesse’s military discount online. Luckily the friendly staff in the ticket office brought it up or I would have forgotten to apply it when we got there too!

Within minutes, we were exploring the zoo. We found this zoo VERY easy to navigate. Some zoos leave you wondering where to go next or how you get to a special exhibit you want to revisit. This zoo was circular in shape so it was easy to go from one to the next.

The staff at the entrance had suggested that we take a photo of the zoo map to have with us, but we really didn’t need it because it was so easy to find our way around. As shown in the map above, the main boardwalk was circular. You could easily veer off into one of the five sections, look around, and then pick up right where you left off.

Expedition Africa: Giraffes

We easily spent the most time in Expedition Africa. I believe a safari in Africa is on each of our bucket lists, so any opportunity to see giraffes, lions, and zebras and we are there! What really set this zoo apart was how many giraffes there were. We’ve gone to zoos and seen one giraffe or two that you can see off in the distance if you are lucky. This zoo had tons!

It was very cool to see them up close on the platform. For a small fee, you could buy lettuce to feed them even! And boy were they hungry!

We learned of something giraffes do called “necking” which is basically swinging their necks around and pushing at another giraffe’s neck, done to show dominance. Check out this video of “necking” in action:

It was very cool to see so many in one spot and see how they interact with one another. The other cool time we saw giraffes was at the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island while one was giving birth. Gross and cool all at once!

Expedition Africa: Lions

As usual, the lions were asleep for most of the day while we were there. But we were able to see them moving around later in the day. We were actually feeding the birds in another section, and a staff member pointed out the noise – which was a lion roaring in the distance. We high-tailed it back through the zoo to catch them in action. Not very lively, but they were up moving around. Check out this cool photo Emma took!

It was in this section that you could pay for the kayak excursion, which involved a paddle around the outside of the Africa exhibit. We decided not to pay the extra for this once we got there as we really got to see enough of the animals from where we were. But it is an option when you go.

Lands Of Change

Our second favorite area (or maybe the girls’ favorite) was the Lands of Change. The hit here for the girls: the bird sanctuary. There were two separate caged areas that you could go in and feed the birds. To say the birds would be all over you is an understatement!

Being former parakeet owners, the girls loved this bird attention! They had multiple birds eating the seed and nectar from them. They, too, were hungry! In one of the cages the attendants walk around with brooms to shoo the birds back some, otherwise it’s likely the birds would be squished.

The zoo had other birds, like Bald Eagles, Ibis, and Parrots. So exotic and beautiful to watch!

Wild Florida

The highlight for the girls of the Wild Florida exhibit was the alligators. We have seen a few in the wild down here, but not as big as these ones (nor would I ever want to see a wild one this big).

While it was neat to see the size of these creatures, they weren’t moving around or very active while we were there. I do believe one was floating in the water, but not much movement otherwise.

Rainforest Revealed

This was probably the quietest version of the zoo when we were there. There was construction happening, and many of the monkeys and sloths were sleeping. There were some beautiful birds, but several were also in the cages that we had already fed. I imagine if you were able to watch the monkeys live in action this would have been a much more lively area.

Aquarium Section

The final of the five sections consisted of an aquarium with fish, otters, and turtles. There was also a cool water splash pad area for children. I’m sure this is very popular among kids on a hot day. However, my 15 and 11-year-olds didn’t want to partake. It looked beautiful though!

Food and Shopping

In the mid-section of the zoo, there is a dining, food-court area. They had burgers, fries, chips – that sort of thing. We had packed our lunch (which we ate out by the truck in the parking lot) so didn’t eat there and can’t comment on prices. The kids did each get Dippin’ Dots before we left. Just know these things are available to you if that’s your forte.

Like all parks, this one had a gift shop that you walk through to exit the zoo. They had t-shirts, stuffed animals, key chains – you name it. It was all very cute stuff to remember your time at the zoo. We bought a sticker to add to our wall hanging in the camper. But honestly, we won’t forget this zoo because we had such a great time here. Check it out if you find yourself anywhere near Melbourne, Florida. You won’t be disappointed!