I headed off the Cape today for an afternoon excursion to Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence RI.

Kiddo and I had a great time walking around and looking at the animals. Our first stop was the African Plains exhibits.

Grant's zebras (Equus quagga boehmi) share a space with wildebeests (Connochaetes gnou).

They also have a small pack of beautiful African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus pictus). They were being camera-shy, but you can see the zoo's photo here. These are among the most successful of the big African predators when it comes to hunting. They have a 70% or better success rate.

Another less-known African animal is the aoudad (Ammotragus lervia). I'd never heard of it before today. It's also called a Barbary sheep, and it's found in mountainous areas.

More familiar is the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), the world's largest land animal. When we first passed by the elephant enclosure, the elephants standing by the back fence.

From the largest land animal to the tallest. The Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) were next.

In a smaller enclosure across from the elephants was this magnificent bird:

This is a West African crowned crane (Balearica pavonina).

The last African animal we got to see was the African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata).

We continued on to the exhibits of North American and Asian animals.

These two bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were injured in the wild and cannot fly. Zoo visitors have the unique opportunity to see them up close in a non-fenced enclosure.

The Asian animals include some of the most popular attractions at the zoo.

The moon bear (Ursus thibetanus) is named for the white markings on its chest.

The beautiful snow leopard (Uncia uncia) was in the mood to pose for a picture.

And the prize for the cutest, most squee-worthy critter goes to the red panda (Ailurus fulgens).

Not quite as far up on the cute scale is the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius). Be careful, they spit! (Actually, these two seemed pretty mellow and there was no spitting happening).

Here's a closeup.

The last areas that we visited were dedicated to the wildlife of South America and Australia.

These Chilean flamingoes (Phoenicopterus chilensis) are among the zoo's most colorful residents.

They are much prettier than the plastic variety!

Here is the iconic animal of Australia, the grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus).

We visited the indoor South American rain forest exhibit before getting the announcement that it was closing time (the zoo's hours are 9-4 and they're open year-round with the exception of a few major holidays).

On our way out, we got to watch feeding time for the Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti).

We also got one last closeup look at one of the African elephants who had wandered over to the front of his enclosure.

The Roger Williams Park Zoo is a great activity for an afternoon. There's plenty to explore, but it's not so big that you get lost. The price ($12 for adults, $6 for kids with kids under 3 free) is quite reasonable, and the location is convenient. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Providence, especially if you have kids along.