Taronga Zoo

When planning my trip, I was initially concerned that a zoo right in Sydney's city center might not be very impressive. However, Taronga Zoo turned out to be excellent - I highly recommend it. We bought three tickets a day ahead on Mafengwo, which included two cable car rides. We took the cable car up from the bottom and then explored while walking downhill, which proved to be an efficient approach.

The visitor center map was incredibly useful, showing not just animal locations but also performance schedules. We roughly planned our route and spent 3.5 hours covering about 70-80% of the park. Tree frogs, various snakes, bats, giraffes, koalas... everything was fascinating! It felt like our eyes couldn't keep up with all there was to see.

The absolute must-see is the QBE Free-flight Bird Show. The viewing area faces stunning harbor views, and trainers position themselves at different spots around the stands. The birds obediently swoop over the audience's heads from one trainer to another, landing precisely on their arms. The finale features birds of different colors soaring together - it's like magic. The female trainer in the middle (whose name I've forgotten) left the deepest impression. Her interactions with the birds, her tone, and expressions clearly showed her boundless passion for both the birds and her work. It was deeply moving. After the show, we donated $5 to the bird conservation fund and received a badge. If you visit Taronga Zoo, you can skip other shows like the seal show, but don't miss this one.

Zoos are typically children's favorites - it somehow feels odd for an adult to wander alone eating ice cream in a zoo. Alain de Botton once expressed his unease about visiting zoos, troubled by the similarities between humans and animals, reflecting that his evening dinner dates (courtship behavior) weren't fundamentally different from the mating calls of rheas on autumn nights.