Meander to Mogo Zoo

20 September 2024 / Story & Photos - Rose Smith

Having experienced gale force winds for two days, the run to Mogo Zoo (actually Mogo Wildlife Park) was not looking promising. Luckily, the winds eased overnight and the weather for the run was ideal. Blue skies, no wind and not too hot….perfect for a tops down drive. It was an early start for some, who had a 40 minute drive to arrive at the Heritage Bakery by 8:00am. Sufficiently fueled with coffee, the waypoint run set off directly down the Princess Highway to Mogo Zoo. As usual, we encountered roadworks on the way and got held up at our nemesis… a red light. As some members were arriving from the south, Rose was busily texting to change our arrival time. As it turned out, Rose & Geoff were first to arrive at the Zoo, either due to Google maps taking people on a scenic route or again.. roadworks. Mike joined us along the way… pleased we got the time right and we didn’t leave you behind this time.

The NRMA had a heavily discounted deal, if you pre purchased tickets, which included a free coffee. So upon entry all of us lined up for a beverage… it was pretty good stuff, particularly the mocha, which Karen tried for the first time. While having our drinks we were entertained by the energetic Emperor, Cotton-top and Golden Lion Tamarins plus Pygmy Marmosets. Today, they didn’t stay still for long… exhausting little mammals.

Next to these exhibits was the Red Panda which was actually on the ground (none of us had seen this before) and walking around, which it did for quite a while before climbing up and nestling in for a sleep in the treetops…. which is where you usually see it. Nearby, two koalas were sleeping, but we had a good view of them.

The gorillas captivated all of us, particularly the baby. You can stand and watch these guys for ages. We all decided it would not be fun to come face to face with the adult Silverback… huge.

Most of the giraffes were lining up for hand feeding. Besides a few adults, there was a baby and two young calves, one was named after the queen… Lilibet.

Primate Island consists of a few separate islands with different primates on each and is a great place to live if you are a monkey or a small primate. The monkeys have a large place to live with heaps of trees and items to play on. Some of us were lucky enough to see them eating bags of popcorn, although the resident ducks were pretty keen to nab some of this from them. They seemed happy to share. Lemurs and Golden Lion tamarins shared a separate Island and they also put on a good show for us.

We saw heaps of other animals and almost all of them were active today. The exception to this were the lions and hyenas who slept most of the time. We did see some of them stretch or stand only to flopover to continue sleeping. It's what cats do best during the day.

We all meandered around the zoo at our own pace. The guys finished earlier than the rest of us and were happy to sit and talk about cars under the glorious purple wisteria outside the cafe. The girls had to rush the last section of the zoo as Geoff was keen to get to The Adelaide Hotel in Moruya for lunch on time. The girls took a lot more time watching animal behaviours, chatting and taking photos. Kim brought her good camera, so we are all keen to see her shots.

Thanks Geoff for organising a great day out. We all had a brilliant day.