I must admit that of all the places I expected to find myself on holiday, the zoo wasn’t one of them— at least not without children.
Don’t Panda to Them
Like many of the museums on the National Mall, the zoo is also part of the Smithsonian Institute, and like the museums, it is also free to enter. You do have to book a ticket to enter, but that’s it, and I found this mind-blowing given the amount we have spent in the past getting into London Zoo.
The zoo is about a 20 minute Metro ride from the centre of DC and included an escalator ride to the surface that took two and a half minutes to ride (yes I timed it).
The big attraction at the zoo is a pair of giant pandas who only arrived at the end of 2024 on loan from China at a rental rate of $1M per year. Given how little we have seen in the past when we have visited London Zoo, I was expecting more of the same here, but no, we had a great view of the pandas who spent ages playing with balls, climbing trees, etc.
We were lucky to also see lions, tigers, elephants, and an orangutan crossing the road on a high wire above us. We were advised not to stand directly underneath him lest him might send down a present!
Speaking of wildlife, the local bugs have taken a liking to me, and I am covered in bites.
