Florida - Part I - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo

This trip was exclusively spent on miles and points, which means the rental car as well! Thus far, the most expensive cost of our trips was the rental car, aside from attractions and food. We were thrilled to find that we could also redeem points on rental car. One major advantage is no fees are included in the booking when using points. Fees can be a big chunk of the cost.

Why Tampa? 

Mommy's friend invited us to her baby's birthday and points for a round-trip to Tampa was less than 9,000 southwest points (equivalent to $90; not to mention that was for 2 people flying as a Companion Pass Holder) so why not pay a visit to the west coast beaches of Florida for the weekend. 

Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo 

We spent about 4 hours at this zoo. It is nicely divided into 4 sections and depending on where you start (we started from the left), the fun parts for us was towards the end on the right.

(Image courtesy of Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo)

The tickets price are pretty steep even with our Houston Zoo Membership discount (50%).  Adult = $30.95; Kids = $22.95.  After the discount, we ended up paying about $40+.


Main Entrance     

Asian Garden - Lorikeet
Gege feeding the parakeet.  $5 for that small cup of liquid food.  It was fun for the whole family as we each got to take turn feeding.


Florida Wildlife 
Apparently, this zoo is big on Manatees that they even have a Manatee Hospital in the zoo.  What we learned was that the zoo do not keep the Manatees for long.  Once the zoo keepers feel that the manatees are strong enough to survive out in the ocean, they will release them.  They keep those orphan manatee babies found in the manatees hospital for feedings and caring.


Safari Africa 
Entrance to the Safari Africa.  The title says it all.  We explore the Safari Africa by taking advantage of the expedition tour.  We waited nearly half an hour for the ride, but it's all good since we were all running short of energy.  The expedition ride covers all the animals in the Safari Africa so we are not missing out on anything by foot.


Do you spot the penguins under the shade?  Yes!  That's right;  they are African Penguin


Walkway path with murals to the safari.

Wallaroo Station
The best part of the zoo is the Wallaroo Station.  They have mini rides great for toddlers and best of all, all rides are included in the high admission price.


Didi was so happy that he met the minimum height requirements for the ride.

Final thoughts
You really can't go wrong with this zoo.  We recommend this as things to do with kids in Tampa.  There were so much to see and kids were having a lot of fun with the rides.  One thing though, they are strict with height requirements for all the rides.  If a not so small child wants to ride, he or she will be rejected. Gege wanted to go back for the rides the following day and mommy thought our pass was part of the limited time offer "pay for a day, come back all year," luckily she called to verify and it wasn't.