You are invited to a sneak preview of the Calgary Zoo’s new Destination Africa exhibit made up of the TransAlta Rainforest and Africa Savannah. These fantastic new buildings opened to the public in January 2003.

TransAlta Rainforest
When you enter the TransAlta Rainforest you will be greeted by walls painted in African designs and a river’s edge exhibit full of tropical fish. As you walk down the rainforest path, you will see a porch and corrugated roof of the Warden’s Cabin. This replica of the Warden’s Cabin at wildlife preserves in Africa will eventually become the home of African geckos, spiders, frogs and beetles. As if you were actually in a park in Africa, check yourself in and take a look around! Further along the pathway into the forest you will come upon a huge tree where the pathway divides - you can choose to cross the stream over a rough footbridge or ascend a stairway into the green foliage of the trees.

If you choose to ascend the stairs, you will be rewarded with a vista of the whole rainforest. Straight ahead you will see a waterfall, streams and a rainforest clearing. To your right you will see a large forest clearing used by western lowland gorillas and monkeys. Kakinga, our Silverback male and leader of the troupe keeps the peace of our group of nine — can you find them all? This new enclosure is four times the size of the old indoor enclosure. Just wait until the summer time when we can let them venture out into their huge outdoor enclosure!!

Descending down a different flight of stairs, you arrive at the front door of the Researcher’s Cabin. The cabin is constructed of rough planks with a simple interior. Posters, field sketches and notes tacked to the walls all indicate that researchers are currently using the cabin. In the cabin, there is a book that identifies our gorilla troupe! This can help you spot who’s who!

Outside the back door of the Researcher’s Cabin you might catch a glimpse of a diverse assortment of colorful African birds flying free in an aviary straight ahead. Suddenly you get the feeling of eyes watching you, and look down to stare into the eyes of dwarf crocodiles lying in a pool of water watching your every move.

Hurrying along the path you turn a corner and look into a large clearing where a troop of gorillas are feeding and playing. In the trees above there are a number of Colobus monkeys swinging in the branches, busily chattering, grooming and playing.

As you continue to follow the pathway you will eventually come upon a boardwalk where you can look into a rainforest clearing and see numerous African birds, small antelope and lemurs. This boardwalk will lead you to the outside of the building, where a short walk through the African Village will bring you to the African Savannah building.

The African Savannah
As you enter the doors of the African Savannah, you walk into a bright expansive building with a high roof and lots of open space, the total opposite of the TransAlta Rainforest.

If you look up to your right you could be eye to eye with a white-backed vulture perching on a dead tree branch. Look down and you will see a family of warthogs, probably doing what they love to do best - kneeling down and rooting around in the soil for goodies to eat.

Turn around, you see Rock Hyrax trying to hide in the crevices of the rocks or sitting out on a rock ledge making the most out of a beautiful day.

Just a little further along the path on your right you will see huge aircraft hangar doors that, on warmer days, will be open wide onto the savannah plains offering a great view of giraffe, zebra, ostrich, marabou storks and crowned cranes. In front of the doors you can’t miss the beautiful huge waterhole that is the new residence of our two hippos Foggy and Sparky.

On your left you’ll see a mixed exhibit of slender-tailed meerkat that are active during the daytime and the African Crested Porcupine, which is a nocturnal animal, and will most likely be sleeping during the daylight hours.

On your right, and at the foot of a huge baobab tree, you’ll see species of African shorebirds including the blacksmith plover and hammerkop. Right behind you there is a snake, but don’t worry it’s only a little carpet boa.

As you walk around the huge baobab tree, you might notice a door in the trunk. Inside, there is a kitchen for our zoo keeper to prepare food for the animals. This isn’t unusual for baobab trees; in Africa some of these old baobab trees have housed families of up to 22 people.

Wander around the corner and you’ll see a path to the waterhole. Hippos spend all day in the water and then emerge at night in search of food. Behind the path you might see the giraffes browsing on leaves high up in the trees or catch a glimpse of them enjoying the sunshine on warm days. Follow the pathway out of the building where you’ll see hippos, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, Crowned Cranes, ostriches and Marabou Storks all enjoying the savannah.

Take a walk under the giraffe overpass and along the path and you’ll be confronted by a pride of lions, one male and three females, lounging on rocks or in the grass, waiting for the evening hours when they become more active.

We hope that you have enjoyed your virtual trip through Destination Africa and let your safari begin!