The world’s most endangered primate, the aye-aye of Madagascar, will be seen for the first time at a North American zoo when the Cincinnati Zoo opens Jungle Trails on July 10. The largest project ever undertaken by the 120-year-old institution, the $7.5 million indoor and outdoor exhibit will simulate African and Asian rain forests teeming with bonobo chimpanzees, orangutans, douc langurs, lemurs, reptiles and birds such as the shoebill stork.
The exhibit covers nearly 2.5 acres of hilly terrain through which a trail for humans winds. Mist and fog machines create constant high humidity resembling rain forest conditions. According to Thane Maynard, director of conservation at the zoo, “You get sort of parboiled in the humidity, which feels like you’re living in a wet sock.”
No bars separate viewers from the animals; moats do the job in the outdoor sections, while glass enclosures predominate indoors, where animals spend the winter.
Jungle Trails was designed to maximize interaction among the highly social primates, according to Michael W. Dulaney, area supervisor of primates, and to immerse viewers in the rain forest habitat. Tropical plantings and hardy tropical look-alikes able to withstand Midwestern winters co-exist in the exhibit.
For more information, call the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, 513-281-4700.
Dances with dolphins
Speaking of immersion in the natural habitat, 27 dolphin lovers will be able to swim with the seagoing mammals off White Sand Ridge in the Bahamas, where groups of Atlantic spotted dolphins congregate. From aboard a twin-hulled motor yacht, passengers will don snorkeling equipment and slip into the water from a platform on the back of the boat.
According to Tom Moliterno, Dolphin Watch program leader, on a typical day the animals will approach three to five times, frolicking with swimmers anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours. “The fact that the dolphins return again without feeding or enticement of any kind shows that they do enjoy the human contact,” he says.
Dolphin Watch departs from Ft. Lauderdale and includes one night hotel accommodation, six nights aboard the yacht and all meals and snacks. Dates are Aug. 20-27; cost is $1,695 not including travel to Ft. Lauderdale and is based on double occupancy (roommate matches can be arranged). Call 800-543-8917.
London lowdown
Buckingham Palace will open to visitors for the first time from Aug. 7 to Sept. 30, to help pay for restoring Windsor Castle, damaged earlier this year by fire. Some 18 rooms and adjoining areas of the palace’s State Apartments, designed by John Nash for King George IV in the early 19th Century, can be seen, including furniture, art objects and paintings by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and others.
Approximately 70 percent of the roughly $60 million cost of reconstructing Windsor Castle is expected to be raised from visitors to its precincts and to the palace, which will be open through summer 1997. Ticket agency Edwards & Edwards is offering a 1 1/2-hour visit to the palace as part of a guided London walk, priced at $44. Call 800-223-6108.
The only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior on display in Europe is now at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Designed from 1935-37 for Pittsburgh businessman Edgar J. Kaufmann, the office includes walls, floor and ceiling by Wright as well as his furniture and fittings.
Virgin Atlantic and KIWI International Air Lines now offer connecting service from Chicago Midway to London’s Heathrow Airport. Passengers fly KIWI to Newark and change to a Virgin Boeing 747 for the final leg. Coach fare is $752 round trip. Call 800-JET-KIWI.
Napoleon’s island
The Royal Viking Queen embarks on Nov. 23 from Cape Town, South Africa, to Rio de Janeiro, stopping at the island of St. Helena, the final exile of Napoleon Bonaparte and one of the few remaining British colonies. The emperor lived on the 47-square-mile volcanic island from 1815 to 1821 at Longwood; the home has been restored and is open to visitors. The 13-day voyage will also explore rugged Walvis Bay in South Africa. Rates range from $7,995 to $13,845 a person based on double occupancy and include round-trip air fare from the U.S. Call 800-442-8000.
