The view of the entrance to the Houston Zoo

CAB runs wild at field trip to the Houston Zoo

By Izuh Ikpeama, Live Reporting Coordinator On Mar 23, 2018 951 0

Last year, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) hosted a full-fledged field trip where students were given the opportunity to experience all the Houston Museum of Natural Science amenities free of charge. Because of this event’s success, CAB hosted another field trip March 7.

This year’s field trip was to the Houston Zoo, and those in attendance got to explore all the amenities of the zoo and partake in the various activities offered. As a member and officer of CAB, I decided to attend the field trip to be there if anybody needed help (and to get a free ride to the zoo).

Once everyone was signed in, we ran through the ground rules for the trip and we were on our way. When we arrived at the zoo, Diveanne Martinez, CAB president, announced that CAB had organized a scavenger hunt through a phone application called GooseChase, and the winner(s) would win a CAB t-shirt and a tumbler full of goodies. She explained that students could mark off things from their scavenger hunt list by completing tasks ranging from simply checking in, to filming a short video of themselves in front of the checkpoint. Eager to get started, everyone filed into the zoo and went their separate ways.

A group of my friends and I decided to go through the zoo’s recommended route so that we could see the mile markers as we went. We saw the various exotic birds, felines and apes before we came across a sign that said, “Bug House.” We didn’t know that the zoo had any type of bugs, so we shrugged and decided to check it out. After seeing cockroaches, beetles, scorpions and a massive leaf-cutter ant farm, I was more than ready to get out of there and no longer have to resist the urge to scratch a non-existent bug off my body.

Before we had to go, we came across the enclosure in which you could pay to feed the giraffes. We all decided that this would be the best end to a great day at the zoo, and we braved the long line to be able to get the once in a lifetime chance of feeding the gigantic animal. The giraffe handler gave us three pieces of lettuce and instructed us on exactly how to hold the vegetable so that the giraffes do not bite more than they’re supposed to. Diveanne Martinez, summed up the experience best.

“It was fun and I was very excited to feed the giraffe, but I was sad and disappointed because the giraffe ate the leaf really fast and I didn’t get to pet the giraffe and that was really all I wanted,” Martinez said.

Overall, the second CAB Field Trip was another great experience. The zoo was the perfect destination to go because it is 300 percent larger than you think it is and there are so many things to do and see. Since everyone had such a good time on this trip, I cannot even imagine the amount of fun everyone is going to have on the upcoming Pleasure Pier Field Trip. Make sure to be on the lookout for future CAB events so that you can have some fun too.