There were 800 guests in attendance at Belle Benchley's retirement party, where she was showered with praise and given a farewell gift of a three-month trip around the world—so she could visit all the zoos and wild places she had worked with and heard about but never seen. One zoo director said of her leaving that "It will be like losing a right arm." A woman shook her hand and asked, "How have you done it all anyway?" Belle answered, in her usual practical way, "It hasn't been that hard. I just saw what had to be done, and I did it."