Even though I’m an adult, I love going to the zoo. I am such an animal person – I have planned vacations around animal encounters (I highly recommend McCarthy’s Wildlife Preserve in West Palm Beach, Florida) and stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World, where you can see zebras and giraffes from your balcony. So going to the zoo is a no-brainer for me. And luckily for me, Pittsburgh’s zoo is amazing.

The zoo of today looks completely different from the zoo of my childhood. They recently re-did the African Safari section of the zoo – now, you can see the giraffes, elephants and zebras from so close, you almost feel like you’re on the safari yourself (which is my bucket-list dream!).

They also added – and are still adding to – a new section of the zoo called The Islands. I couldn’t believe how huge it was – they built it going up a hill, so you take a nice trail walk up while you look at all the animal exhibits along the way. The Siamang monkeys were especially cool – they had a ropes course of sorts set up for them to swing around on.

Spending a day at the zoo is so relaxing. You can just roam around and look at the animals, enjoying the weather and the atmosphere. If you’re in the area, it’s totally worth a visit!