Penguins Come To Play.

My daughter Hunter loves to go to the zoo. I don’t indulge her enough in this, I know -- a busy travel schedule and so many articles to write when I am home limits the time I have to take her out for an afternoon here and there amongst the giraffes and elephants at the Little Rock Zoo. I do need to correct this oversight.

But I am glad we were invited for a special sneak peek of the new Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe at the zoo this week. It was a very rare opportunity to see something straight off the blocks.

We joined our good friend Kelli at the front gates of the zoo Wednesday afternoon for a short but frisky ride in a golf cart to the new exhibit area. It’s about dead center of the zoo, overlooking some of the great apes and within eyeshot of the tigers. From a distance it’s a big outcropping of rocks under a cast iron mesh dome. Intriguing.

Kelli lead us down a path to a small staircase underneath what appeared to be a wrecked and overturned dinghy. Hunter had no problem making it downstairs, but Kelli and I had to duck underneath. There we found a semicircular window that looked down the exhibit at ground level.

I helped Hunter up the substantial step there and let her take a look. “Mommy?” she asked me, peering about.

“Look close, Hunter,” I told her, and she focused her eyes as she chewed on the nipple of her bottle. “Do you see them?”

She gasped and looked back at me. “Penguins?”

“Yes, Hunter, those are penguins,” I told her. She looked back and pointed. There were just two in view at that moment, sitting on the rocks built up on the far side of the exhibit from where we were standing.

Kelli was telling me all about the exhibit, and suggested I come around to the other side. I helped Hunter down and we exited the other side of the overturned “dinghy” to the sidewalk. I could see a tall tank and a new building topped with plants ahead of me. To my left, big glass panels that held back the water.

“Can you see the penguins?” Kelli asked Hunter, but from Hunter’s perspective on the ground she could see only the water. Kelli climbed up on the step just outside the glass and I helped Hunter climb up into her arms. She gasped again when she saw the birds on the other side of the glass.

“Penguins!” she exclaimed, and proceeded to take in everything she saw with big eyes. For a few minutes I took photos while the two of them looked at the birds.

Another journalist, Jennifer Dixon with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, had just arrived so we scampered down and back to the golf cart, which Kelli backed up and off-roaded to get around to the front again. Journalist tucked in, we went back and met with a couple of familiar faces, including Zoo education director (and longtime friend) Mark Shaw.

The penguins, more than half a dozen now, were all standing on the edge of the water, trying to decide if it was worth diving in. I do need to explain that they probably weren’t worried about the cold -- though it was in the 50s in Little Rock that day the water in the exhibit was heated, and I’m sure it would have felt splendid to take a swim.

These birds aren’t Antarctic penguins like you see in movies like Happy Feet. They’re from South Africa, African blackfoot penguins to be exact. They’re also called Jackass penguins because their call sounds like a braying mule. They’re sort of tropical birds and they like temperate climates. Of course, to be able to survive in summer heat in Arkansas they have to be pretty hardy fowl.

Hunter had already figured out two and two and calculated that if she could see a swimming pool and the birds were by that swimming pool that they could swim. “Penguins! Penguins! Come on in!” she hollered. “Water is fine!”

They stood on the edge of the water, jostling each other a little closer to the edge. I figured they could probably hear her a bit, but whether or not they were going to heed her, well, that was up to them.

And then suddenly they were in the water, five of the birds, plopping in clumsily on the surface but becoming fantastic black and white streaked torpedoes as they submerged, darting back and forth and playing, even. Hunter squealed with delight and watched them, her hands and face pressed against the glass.

There are nine birds total in the exhibit, seven males and two females. Of the nine, there’s a mated pair. The rest are “tweens,” adolescent penguins not quite ready to mate yet. There are also a couple of other African blackfoot penguins that won’t be joining them in the exhibit. Laura and Skipper will be with the education department. They’ll live behind the Civitan amphitheater stage and will eventually go out to schools and such as part of the education outreach program.

“Where did they go?” Hunter asked. The penguins had darted out of view. We walked back towards the dinghy. Flashes of black and white passed us again through the other panels of glass. Hunter ran down to the end and crawled under the dinghy again.

That dinghy, strangely enough, is made out of concrete. It’s a nice little kid-friendly observation point under there. There’s an observation point for the land section of the exhibit up top for the adults and of course those grand glass panels along the sides, but this area is just for the shorter-statured. Hunter clambered back up on the steps and squealed when she saw the penguins come up for air.

The dinghy and the rocks are all concrete, fabricated concrete gunite that should hold up well over time. The small mesh that’s over the upper part of the exhibit allows people to see into the exhibit and for the penguins to enjoy Arkansas and its climate -- but that mesh is also small enough that items such as coins can’t make it through. A single penny would be enough to choke a penguin to death, so it’s important to keep those items away. It will also keep other birds from getting in and harassing the penguins, though I have no idea if that’s a problem or not.

All of the birds in the exhibit come from the Species Survival Program -- a program shared with other zoos in which species like these are preserved through breeding programs. The birds all come from one place or another -- four from the Pueblo Zoo, three from Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, two from the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and one from the Tulsa Zoo. While just nine birds will share this enclosure for right now, it’s big enough to house 20 -- the 1500 square feet of surface space is about the size of a typical ranch house.

Keepers were coming down to work with the penguins, and it was time for the birds to get out of the water. But we noticed they really didn’t want to get out. I couldn’t blame them -- playing in a nice warm pool or getting out into the chilly wind? I know which one I’d choose.


Mark tapped on the window lightly with the pads of his fingertips and a couple of the birds came up to the window, fascinated. They also peered through to Hunter, darting in front of her until they needed to go up for air and then coming back down. They seem to be naturally curious, just like us.

That tank I’d seen earlier, Mark explained, was for the exhibit, a water tank just for that pool. Inside the little low-rise building next to it were sand filters, pumps, a water chilling system for summer, ozonator and such. It’s lit by skylights and is buried to keep heating and cooling costs down, and the plants on top are local plants chosen to fit in with the whole African veldt theme that section of the zoo has picked up.

Thing is, Penguin Pointe is rather neat. It may be the only sort of exhibit of its kind, certainly is around these parts where you can view the penguins both in the water and on the land. The tank holds 20,000 gallons of water, plenty for the birds to play in. There are nesting boxes in the back almost out of sight where the males will keep eggs warm to hatch (that’s a penguin thing, the males doing it) and there’s a viewing area on the indoor section of the exhibit where keepers will work with the animals. It’s a pretty impressive $2.3 million dollar exhibit -- and all that money was raised and the whole thing built over four years thanks to donations, grants and other fundraising efforts.

Well, we’d been there a while and it was time to move on. We quickly toured the zoo before heading home… it was chilly and coming up on Hunter’s naptime. I buckled her into her carseat and climbed in, and moments after I started the car I looked back I noticed she’d fallen fast asleep.

She’s been talking non-stop about the penguins ever since, looking at the photos I took and telling her daddy that we’re going to go out and see them again soon. Soon will be about a week from now -- when the exhibit opens to the public on Saturday, March 5th. I’m sure there will be other little girls going up to the windows, wide-eyed and gape-mouthed in wonder, and a few who’ll be calling “penguins! Penguins!” and pressing their faces against the glass, watching the birds play.

Oh, and parents -- a really neat little photo opportunity? Up on the main walkway just outside the exhibit there’s a great cut-out panel for you and the kids to pose as penguins. I caught this shot of Hunter there before we left. Cute? Of course.

For more information, check out the Little Rock Zoo’s website or call (501) 666-2406.

Last Vestige of Fair Season.

The Arkansas State Fair and so many other state fairs are long gone (Louisiana being a notable exception). Most of my state’s home festivals are already over for the year. While thoughts are turning to ducks and Christmas here, there’s still one chance to try out a funnel cake before the season is over.

You think I’d have enough of fair foods by this time of year, having covered Texas and Arkansas’ fairs and all the little places in-between. And for those weird battered-and-deep-fried items you would be correct. But there’s something about the classics, the corn dogs and cotton candy and funnel cakes….

See, somehow or another, I missed out on my traditional funnel cake this year. It’s a family tradition -- Paul and Hunter and I all share one the final day of the Arkansas State Fair. Except this year we just couldn’t get our scheduling right, so the three of us were never at the Fair at the same time together. Yes, I did try a piece off one Leif procured on the last Sunday of the Fair, but it was not the same.

But I knew that I’d have one more chance, and I didn’t even have to wait a week. It was waiting for me at the Little Rock Zoo. After all, what’s Halloween season without a trip to Boo at the Zoo?

It’s a tradition here in Little Rock: during the week and a half before Halloween, the Zoo opens up at night for kids to go trick-or-treating, enjoy a haunted house and haunted train ride and take a spin on Over the Jumps, the historically fantastic restored carousel. Kids get tickets to trade for candy, there are photo opportunities and a dance cave and all sorts of other stuff. I’d be taking Hunter even if I didn’t have some other assignment in mind.

This year, the folks at the Zoo asked if I’d come do one more story -- the story of the food. And that I could do. I was just expecting to talk about the last chance to get that funnel cake, but I found out something else. Read on.

Because of wonky work schedules, Paul couldn’t make it out with us until later, so Hunter and Leif and I headed out there to be on-site as soon as the gates opened at 6 p.m.. Right through the gate we encountered a man showing off a snake to interested kids, a magician, and a booth selling jackets and light-up novelties. But we had work to do.

We stopped at a couple of the trick-or-treat booths run by volunteers from local groups and Hunter exchanged some tickets for candy. And then we were down to the food vendor area. As I pointed out to Hunter, it was time for Momma to get to work.

No, the selection isn’t as wide as what you get at the Arkansas State Fair, nor should it be. There are a good handful of vendors set up, offering traditional favorites next to a courtyard near the elephant enclosure where a strange singing clown was murdering Thriller and Ghostbusters, near a screen where fish skeletons flicked back and forth. The light was already waning and I did my best to capture each shot. As I did my job, Hunter dragged Leif up and down the little bit of thoroughfare.

Well, it was a big job and I needed to get started. My very first item was the simplest and most necessary -- a cup of lemonade. The lady in the trailer squeezed in a lemon, dropped it in, added sugar and water and ice and placed another cup over the end, martini-makin’ style. Within moments I had a refreshing non-color-corrected beverage that was light and immediately thirst-quenching.

Thirst satisfied. Paul arrived and quickly took Hunter off my hands, letting her run at the end of her tether down to the fire engine, where she played for some time before coming back. I had other things to catch.

Such as Leif and a corn dog. Corn dogs are one of Leif’s big things, and he seemed pretty satisfied by this one. The State Fair has one really good corn dog vendor (Superdog!) but some of the corn dogs there are sketchy. Something about the batter here, though. I suspect that just like the funnel cakes and cotton candy, the batter of choice is Flossie’s. I should have asked. Well, I guess I was falling down on the job.

Me? I wanted to try that Philly Cheese Steak advertised across the way. The meat was simmering away in a hot skillet and the scent was strong. The guys at the Pizzaria set me up with a big handful, a long bun topped with the meat, a little cheese, peppers and onions. Yes, it was a hot mess! Yes, it was good. Now, I’ve never been to Philadelphia, so I can’t attest to the authenticity. But I can tell you that was great strip-shredded beef on a bun, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. It was my second-favorite dish of the night.

Paul and Hunter returned. She was hungry, and I fed her a bit of the Philly. The guys kept up with Hunter as I went to sample the next creation, Ribbon Fries. Now, I’ve seen something similar at fairs, but this one was pretty great -- a potato, thinly spirally sliced and dropped into the hot oil, where it expands and creates this strange disc cloud of chips. They’re seasoned. You can have cheese sauce on them -- which I did.

I’m not much of a nacho person because I’m not all that friendly with commercial corn chips. Top potato chips with cheese sauce, though, and I will attack it. This big pile, though, was enough for all four of us. Hunter went to town. She adored the little cheese-spattered chips and kept begging for more of them until she was about to pop.

Paul wanted to try the Sausage on a Bun. I’d seen the links roasting in the Pizzaria wagon and had grabbed a few pictures of them, even had a lady stop and let me photograph hers. Mammoth in size, these 1 ½ inch thick logs of meat were quite substantial and looked like they’d pop if you punctured them.

Covered in some peppers and onions, they’re great. They’re great on their own, too, a big summer-sausage-ish brat-like meat wand full of savory and a big meal in itself. Paul, who’s damn picky and who I usually have to poke for saying something rude about a food at some point or another, was quite satisfied.

That’s a lot of food to try, let me tell you what, especially after a couple of weeks of fair perusal. I could have thrown in the towel right then. But I went on and discovered more things.

I talked with the vendors as I went along, and I found out a few things of interest. Talked with Rick from Flossie’s for a little while. He was manning a stand selling hot roasted turkey legs and corn-on-the-cob, both of which smelled heavenly. The nicely turned turkey legs are well seasoned. I tend to get one and take it home when I get it because that’s a heck of a lot of meat. These smoked beauties were wrapped all the way around with aluminum foil, as were the ears of corn, and that’s a blessing -- have you ever tried to wrangle a toddler and a turkey leg? One’s gonna hit the ground and get dirty.

Anyway, Rick echoed a lot of what I’d been hearing from the other vendors. All of these folks at Boo at the Zoo are local. That is, they’re all from Arkansas. There are more local food vendors at Boo than at the Arkansas State Fair -- I’m not sure why, but it’s the way it is. Unlike a lot of the vendor situations I’ve seen elsewhere, everyone seemed to be working together to help each other out. The girls at the Ribbon Fries stand, for instance, insisted I needed to try that Philly Cheese Steak across the way. It was a nice sort of cooperation.

Talking with the vendors I discovered something else. I should have noticed it when I was getting my lemonade. Those drinks didn’t come with lids or straws. One of them told me they weren’t allowed to have those straws. I asked Susan Altrui about that this morning, and I agree with her on this -- the straws can be launched by kids into the animal enclosures, and that could harm those animals if they eat them or get them stuck somewhere. Very conscientious.

Well, I was almost done. I could have tried absolutely everything, sure, but nachos and cheese sticks and pizza and cotton candy would have just added a lot more inches to my waistline. But I had to have that funnel cake.

And so I did. And I took that Flossie’s funnel cake over to the table and sat down with my husband and daughter and friend and enjoyed one of life’s greatest pleasures. Hunter could not get enough of the funnel cake, either, dusting herself down her chin and front with powdered sugar.

I realized I was glad I hadn’t given in at the Fair. There’s something about a Flossie’s funnel cake that’s different. I did a story last year about the batter that you can order yourself and get sent to your home (or that you can pick up a few places) so you can make it up yourself. I’ve been to a lot of fairs and festivals this year and have sampled bits of funnel cake here and there, and they never quite measure up. I guess you could say this is an endorsement… yeah, it might as well be. I love Flossie’s funnel cakes.

No, we didn’t go home right then. Leif had to leave, but Paul and I took Hunter around the adventure of the Fair. Leif had taken her on the haunted train ride and she did very well. We let Hunter trick-or-treat -- she’s 22 months old now and really gets into it -- and let her dance a bit with the crowd of kids at the dance cave.

But her best moment was at Over the Jumps. She’s never ridden a carousel before, and I was so glad to get the first chance to take her on one. Over the Jumps is not just any carousel -- it’s the last known “over-the-jumps” carousel known to exist with an undulating track, one of only four built in the world. The undulating track moves up and down with the horses attached to the track. It’s more special to me, though, because as far as I can recall it was probably my first carousel, too -- back when it was housed in the long-gone War Memorial Amusement Park across from the current Zoo entrance.



I was nervous about taking her on it at first -- but I knew it’d be an easy ride for her. I stood by her, and at first she seemed apprehensive. But then she started giggling and talking about her horsey, which she petted with each go-round. We got off and she ran for the entrance again. The second and third time her dad took her, and at the end of each ride she asked “one more time?” We eventually had to stop because we really needed to go home.

Of course, she didn't make it home awake. Nearly three hours of fun tuckered her out. She woke long enough to ask for a beverage before crashing out hard, still wearing her firefighter's jacket. I'm surprised she let us peel it off of her.

I’m glad I got to go out to Boo at the Zoo and consider it from another point of view. I love that the vendors are all from Arkansas and that my favorite funnel cakes are served up hot and fresh. Hope you like them, too.

Boo at the Zoo continues through this Sunday the 24th, then does another four days October 28th-31st. It’s a great way to celebrate the Halloween season with your kids in a save and relaxing environment. And there’s a carnival just outside the gate for those who want to also experience the Ferris wheel, the Scrambler and other such amusements. More information can be found at the Little Rock Zoo website.