Henry Doorly Zoo - Best Zoo in USA

The highlight of Henry Doorly has to be the rainforest. I remember waiting anxiously for the opening of this exhibit and then having to be patient until the initial rush of visitors subsided. I prefer not to visit attractions when they are overly crowded.

Quick Tips:

Come prepared to be tired by the end of the day. The zoo requires quite a bit of walking. Admission is .75 for adults and about .00 for children. They do have a special family rate and I believe that one can purchase a season pass.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking and/or riding train or trolley.

Taking at least one meal at the zoo is pretty much necessary if you wish to see all of the exhibits. The concession stands serve the usual hotdogs, hamburgers, ice cream, sodas, etc. and the quality is quite acceptable. It's no fine dining experience, but quite welcome.

House of Hunan was a great place to stop after a full day at the zoo. What a nice treat to have someone serve you while you rest your tired feet. The multi-tiered seating is sectioned to afford privacy without isolation.

The food is of wonderful quality, always served professionally at a proper temperature and in an appealing manner.

The rainforest/jungle exhibit at Henry Doorly Zoo is magnificent. Entirely enclosed within a building, trails wander through various rainforest habitats. There are waterfalls, pools, caves and jungles. When entering the rainforest you are at the top level with exhibits at the same level as you on the right and a wide open arena to the left. The trail eventually wanders down into the lower level. All along the way are birds, monkeys and other rainforest animals. Taking a leisurely pace this part of the zoo can take upwards to two hours to work your way through.

Second to the Lied Jungle I enjoyed visiting Primate Valley. Henry Doorly has a wonderful outdoor sloping enclosure for their gorillas. There is also an indoor viewing area for the primates.

Their orangutans were always indoors when I visited and I'm not sure if they have outside facilities for these beautiful creatures. As much as I admire Henry Doorly Zoo, there is more they could do for their orangutans.

The orangs were always more shy than the gorillas. I could stand for hours by the gorilla fence watching for the big silverback to run across the compound beating his chest. What a thrilling sight.

As Henry Doorly is always updaing and improving its exhibits, much of this may have changed since the last time I visited, which was in 1998.

Henry Doorly boasts many acres of penned wildlife. Some of my favorite were the giraffes, ostriches, elephants and rhinos. It's strange seeing these exotic animals in the heart of a large city like Omaha.

The zoo itself is in a hilly area and is nicely landscaped. The pens are fairly large, but I'm sure by no means as large an area as what the animals native habitats might have been.

The aviary is a large oval, netted enclosure where one is able to wander on paths and bridges. A wide variety of birds fly about freely within the area.

One of the main problems with Henry Doorly was always the parking. The zoo is located within the city of Omaha and has quite a small parking lot. As long as there were no activities going on at Rosenblat Stadium, which sits next to the zoo, that parking area was available for zoo visitors. This greatly expanded parking possibilities. I do believe that some solutions for this problem were in the works.

On a positive note - parking is free.

The aquarium at Henry Doorly is another magnificent exhibit. The feature of this aquarium that I was absolutely fascinated with was the tunnel-like viewing area that allowed one to see the sharks and other fish seemingly from inside the water.

This is a very popular attraction and is most often crowded. I found that the noise of the ooo's and ah's and other such exlamations of wonder echoed within the confines of the tunnel and were quite distracting. Other than this annoyance, I could have stood for hours watching the fish swim over and around me.