When we awoke this morning, the wind was still howling, but we both decided that we wanted to stick to our planned schedule of activities, weather be damned. So by 9 am, we were on the road to Brownsville, to the Gladys Porter Zoo. Home to some 1600 animals in naturalistic settings, this Zoo is a “must-see” for visitors to Cameron County in South Texas. Opened in 1971 at 500 Ringgold Street, the Zoo today is still dedicated to the preservation of nature through education, conservation and research.

At the entrance, we picked up a map which numbered the exhibits from 1 through 60, so we decided to view the animals in that order.  On the map, Exhibits 1 through 9 are called Tropical America, though I’m not sure the Komodo Dragon belongs here.  I noted that Exhibit 4 is the Free Flight Aviary and hoped it would be warm in the enclosure, but alas, it’s open to the elements.  Exhibits 10 through 18 are called Indo-Australia; because my sister had spent almost a month in Australia in November 2010, I was quite interested in these.  As you’d expect, the Africa exhibits, Numbers 19 through 42, are probably the most popular; they include a large and diverse selection of the grassland and forest mammals. The remaining exhibits, 43 through 60, feature the indoor Herpetarium and also animals which are rare in zoos.

Here, in somewhat random order, are some of the creatures we saw today. Sorry there are so many photos, but you know how I love animals.  I usually try to identify my photos with the animals’ scientific names, but I’d rather not post erroneous information, so I won’t do that here.  If you are confident of an identification, please leave me a comment.

Left: Scarlet Ibis ~~~ Right: Mandarin Duck

Left: Roseate Spoonbill ~~~ Right: Bontebok

Left: African Rhino ~~~ Right: Dromedary Camel

Left: Lion ~~~ Right: Bongo Antelope

Left: White Tiger ~~~ Right: White Tiger

Left: Golden Crowned Crane ~~~ Right: Venomous Snakes

All told, we spent about three hours at the Zoo, and since we forgot our snacks in the car, we were quite cold and hungry when we called it a morning. The parking lot attendant told us that there was a good Mexican place, Taco Palenque, just down the road at the end of Palm Boulevard, so we headed there for lunch.

We had planned to visit Mexico today, so after we ate, we made our way to the Gateway International Bridge, the middle bridge of the three bridges that span the Rio Grande and connect the US with Mexico. Luck was with us this afternoon, or else not many people were out and about on this raw and windy day, because we pulled into a parking meter very near where we planned to cross over.

I was surprised at the lack of formality: pedestrians drop three quarters into a turnstile and then cross the border. No one stopped us or asked any questions. In Matamoros, the section of the street nearest the bridge is lined with pharmacies and medical offices; I’m thinking that US citizens have begun to avail themselves of health care in Mexico because it’s cheaper than in the States. We wandered up and down the city streets, which didn’t seem very dangerous (you’ve all heard the stories of the Mexican drug wars), and on our way back to the bridge, stumbled upon the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas:

A sign on the door said that on Wednesdays, no admission is charged, and as luck would have it again, today is Wednesday! We went in to view the current exhibit, The Permanent Revolution, and I must say that some wonderful works were on display, both well-known drawings by such masters as Picasso and Dali, as well as paintings by Mexican artists influenced by Cubism, Fauvism, and Surrealism.

In an introductory essay published in the exhibit brochure, Mexican artist Javier Dragustinovis declares:

La maestría y la manualidad como preocupación central de los artistas daban paso a la invención, a la expresión y a las ideas, a una revolución permanente que inició en el siglo XIX y que aún, ahora, continúa.

I’ve attempted a translation of the above in a comment, but I haven’t kept up with my Spanish, and I’m afraid it’s rather crudely expressed.  If my translation skills were better, I could tell you more about the Museum itself.  From what I’ve read, I believe it originated in a National Bordertown Project; its first incarnation, in July 1969, was the Centro Artesanal, dedicated to fostering local artisans, for the benefit of both the people and the economy.  On 21 October 2002, it opened its doors under its current name, thanks to support from the City of Matamoros, the State of Tamaulipas, and a National Advisory Board on culture and art.  Designed by the distinguished architect Mario Pani, the building is a landmark modernist structure with a maze-like interior and walls set at oblique angles to the concrete floor.  Among its objectives, the Museum aims to collaborate in the process of distribution, production, consumption, and analysis of the visual arts in the State.

Back at the bridge, we realized that we would be joining a line of people waiting to enter the US, but the line moved fairly quickly, and we were back at the car in about half an hour, with time left on our meter.  It cost a quarter to get back in, and we did have to show our passports and explain to the officials that we had simply wanted to be tourists in Mexico for a few hours, but we were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly our trip went.