Zoo-Crazy! Ohio Family Visits 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks

Marla Taviano, a wife and mother in Columbus, Ohio, dreamed of taking her family on an exotic African safari. But when she realized such an extravagant vacation was not exactly in the family budget, she settled on what she thought would be the next best thing: a pact to visit 52 zoos in 52 weeks. Earlier this month, the family accomplished their impressive goal.

"Zoos today do a great job of kind of transporting you to another place," Taviano explains to PEOPLE Pets. "Like when you see the giant panda exhibit you can feel like you’re walking into China, or you see the giraffes and zebras and you feel like you’re in Africa. I love to travel and I love to spend time with my family and this was the best way to do both on a budget."

Their journey began Aug. 1, 2008 when Marla, her husband Gabe and their three young daughters — ages 3, 7 and 8 -- visited the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky. This past Aug. 1, they concluded their mission with a trip to their hometown Columbus Zoo. Highlights of their travels included hand-feeding giraffes — and giving them kisses! —at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado, holding a baby snow leopard at the Columbus Zoo, and catching a glimpse of a rare okapi baby at the San Diego Zoo. (Okapis are the giraffe’s only living relative and look like a giraffe-zebra hybrid.)

The Tavianos, who don't have any pets of their own, visited the zoos with an eye on the bottom line. They traveled everywhere in their 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan —logging 22,000 miles in all — and usually packed picnic lunches to keep expenses down. They only stayed in hotels seven times, instead crashing with 31 different friends and acquaintances for a total of 44 nights to keep costs low.

"My husband thought I was a little bit crazy when I brought up the whole zoo idea," admits Taviano, who blogged about their zoo experiences and plans to write a book about their adventures. "But in the end this has been a marriage-strengthening thing. We pretty much didn’t buy any new clothes all year, we didn’t eat out a lot, but it didn’t feel like we were sacrificing."

After all those zoo trips, Taviano has visiting zoos with kids down to a science. "Map out your trip ahead of time," she suggests. "Almost every zoo has a Web site, so you can plan your day and make sure you’re not backtracking a lot." Taviano also recommends arriving at the zoo when it opens (when the animals are typically most active) and letting every family member pick one animal or exhibit they would like to see. And, she suggests, buying a season pass to your local zoo is smart because it often pays for itself in two visits.

Amazingly, after all those zoo trips, Taviano says her family never suffered from zoo burnout and her daughters were always eager for their next animal adventure. Not convinced? Consider this past weekend: The family was in New York City after they already visited their 52 zoos for the year, but when they had four hours to spare they went to the Central Park Zoo. "We’re kind of zoo fanatics," Taviano admits with a laugh. "But there’s always something new to see."

For more information about their adventures, visit Taviano’s Web site, 52zoos.com.

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Kathy Ehrich Dowd