Oaklawn Farm Zoo, Aylesford, NS

Colloquially known as simply 'Aylesford Zoo', the Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Aylesford provides some up close and personal encounters with wildlife you'd most certainly never find anywhere else in Nova Scotia. Having temporary access to a vehicle inspired me to make the hour and a half drive for the first time on a gorgeous Saturday in September.

Lions and tigers and... this guy? OH MY!

Donatello? Raphael? Is that you?

 

 

My favourites going in were the monkeys. There were tiny tamarins...

 

and one ridiculously sad white-handed gibbon who, in my eyes, immediately became known as "Sad Monkey".

 

 

As we moved through the zoo, I realized there was a lot more to it than I had originally thought. There was a zebra/donkey cross, llamas, a panther and a mountain lion and...

cue: more big cats!

 

And tiny goats.

 

There were camels that were so darn ugly, they were cute...

and a wide array of birds, including one that would talk back if you said hello, and a number of fat little owls that were almost too adorable for words.

Pretty as a peacock? Or as exotic as a black swan?

 

How about as majestic as an eagle?

 

Whatever your age or taste in wildlife, Aylesford Zoo makes for an excellent day trip, well worth the cover charge, and highly recommended for seeing long before you've been in mainland Nova Scotia for fourteen years.