Central Florida Zoo

Hello again zoo lovers! We have a few more zoos to review this year and thought we would get started with the Central Florida Zoo.

Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Sanford, FL

Website

Hours: 9 AM-5 PM

Admission: $16.50

Date of Visit: March 2015

Highlights: The Indian Rhino exhibit was awesome and even better than the one at Lowry Park. You were able to get closer and view them quite well. The black leopard exhibit was something I had never seen before which is always awesome. It was a special part of the zoo. Likewise, the crocodile monitor was something I had never seen before and really neat. I just wish we got a better picture of it for you, but it was difficult with the glass. They had a neat butterfly garden for the kids to look at and a cool playground for them as well.

Disappointments: Outside of the highlights and the cool animals in the pictures below, this zoo really lacked something. I was surprisingly underwhelmed. The zoo also didn't have the animals separated by continent like most zoos and just had a confusing layout in general.

Additional Tips: This zoo is actually about 45 minutes outside of Orlando. It is not actually in Orlando, do not be confused by Central Florida Zoo. It is in Sanford and not Orlando. 

Pictures

Gila Monster

Cool Iguana

Indian Rhino

Another Indian Rhino

Snake

Butterfly from the Butterfly Garden

Not the best quality because of the glass, but a cool caiman swimming towards us.

Really cool bird by the entrance

Camel

Porcupine

Crocodile Monitor

And the highlight of the visit, this beautiful black leopard. This zoo is also where we learned about why some leopards are black (similar to albino alligators) and that there is no such thing as a black panther.

Final Rating: 

3 out of 5 elephants

This zoo had it's highlights, but a confusing layout and a surprising lack of cool animals would have had this at a below average zoo. The Indian Rhino exhibit (which is the best of its kind) and the black leopard exhibit (which is incredibly rare) really saved this zoos rating. If you have never seen these animals, it is worth it just for them, but we will be spending our time at other zoos/attractions. There is so much to do in Florida, and you can do much better than this place. It disappointed me overall, but had some 1 of a kind cool stuff also.

Stay tuned for our next review on a much more pleasant zoo experience in a few weeks.

-Noland

10 Quotes to Live By

People like to throw quotes around, especially on social media. We each love quotes that help confirm what we believe. Some confirmation bias via quotes if you will. I have some of my own that I occasionally look to in order to help me live a better life. Some inspirational words from inspirational people. These are powerful words from Godly men that can have a similar effect to God's word in the bible. Here are 10 of my favorite quotes (not in any particular order).

10) "It dispelled so many myths about the coaching business -- that you had to be a yeller and a screamer to win. You can be your own person, treat people with respect, be very demanding but demanding in a way that doesn't trample on people. And you don't have to give up your faith to win in the NFL." - Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy is a Super Bowl winning and soon to be Hall of Fame coach that has been with the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneer organizations. All of his books are excellent and I highly recommend them eventhough I am not a big books guy. He is a very inspirational figure and I love how he leads with quiet strength. This is how I try to live my life and fuel my own coaching career.

9) “You have heard of ‘quality time’ and ‘quantity time.’ Your family needs both” - Jim Gallery
As a dedicated father I realize that I need to be there for my entire family. This behavior has been modeled for generations before me, but it is good to hear from famous people. Jim Gallery is a former NFL kicker that loves his family. He knows who his kids are and he spends a lot of quality time with them. Our families need active fathers in their lives and they need us to be as present as possible in more ways than one.

8) “Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in, aim at earth and you will get neither” - CS Lewis
The famous author most known for the Chronicles of Narnia, hit the nail on the head here. Aim at heaven and you get all of the joys of earth thrown in with it. When you aim at earth you ultimately remain unfulfilled.  Everything on earth is finite and we can't put our infinite desires into finite things. Eventually, we need to put our desire into the infinite possibilities that heaven brings. When I was finally able to do this, God provided me with abundant blessings that led me to Jenna and from there we created our family.

7) “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could” - Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar is a Christian author and a motivational speaker and was able to come up with this gem. It is important to believe in our friends and family at times even when nobody else will. People can achieve great things, but need others to believe sometimes. You never know if you are the one person on earth believing or not. This is especially true in the teaching in coaching field. Even as adults, it always feels good to have someone believe in you.

6) “The test of a leader is taking the vision from me to we” - John Maxwell
Another Christian author in John Maxwell delivers a powerful quote here. While Maxwell was born in the 40s, this quote seems even more appropriate today in the social media age. Kids are very me centered now in looking at what they can do. When you are trying to lead a group of people though, as I do as a coach, the vision has to shift from me to we. The team has to think about what they can do for each other to make it work.

5) “Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love, and the future to God’s providence” - Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine is one of my favorite saints and this is probably my favorite quote of them all. Trust in God and everything will be okay. God forgives us all our sins so long as we have contrite hearts and confess these sins. He loves us and is ever present in that love. His providence will lead us in the future and ultimately into heaven should we give ourselves to him. Just trust in God and ultimately your life will be much more filling.

4) “The greater part of happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances” - Martha Washington
Happiness depends much more on how we conduct ourselves and perceive things than on the circumstances we find ourselves in. The 1st First Lady nailed it here.

3) “Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.” - Thomas Jefferson
All men and women have rights from conception until natural death. I STRONGLY believe in this and one of our greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson, did too. This statement is the basis for the Declaration that Jefferson wrote. A great man with a great quote.

2) “God helps those who help themselves” - Ben Franklin
This is another interesting quote from another founding father. God helps us sure and we must rely on God, but at the same time God wants us and trusts us to help ourselves too. We must try to achieve some and not continually ask for things. Sometimes we need to provide for ourselves and thank God for that opportunity to provide.

1) "Faith is the most important thing in the world to me. It's the greatest strength I've had. It's helped me get through the hard times. You're not going to win every one of your football games. I've always said I'm not going to make football my god. A lot of coaches put so much into coaching football games that they have nothing left." - Bobby Bowden
Everything about my profession and how I feel about it in this quote right here. Work is not my god, sports are not my god. They are fun for sure and important, but the true God should still always be the centerpiece of my life. I need to always keep things in perspective as Coach Bowden was able to do so well.

Next week, we will have another zoo review. Have a great long weekend!

-Noland