Washington Zoo was just around the corner from our hostel, so we decided to take a walk and check it out. Initially we were only going to spend half a day here, but blown away by the zoo the hours quickly drifted away and we ended up spending the whole day here. The zoo is in fact part of the Smithsonian group of Museums, which make it free entry to the public! We took lunch with us to save some money, but purchased a tea to keep us warm from the bitter cold of Washington DC.