Monday, March 08, 2010

London Zoo



For my birthday treat we went to London Zoo! Inspired by Kate and Carl's adventures in South Africa we decided to have our own safari with Kieran and Alice. OK no Sani pass (think that was Erin not K and C) but instead we got lost in the one way system in Camden High Street - almost as adventurous.
I love London Zoo but the catering is a bit rubbish. The cafe was so cramped that the chairs were clearly designed for people without limbs. We decided to brave the elements and sit outside for lunch.
It was a lovely day but very cold. So cold in fact that Trev's glasses were so steamed up when we went into the butterfly house that he almost trod on a butterfly. I literally had to push him out of the way. I bet they lose a few butterflies that way each year.
London zoo is plagued by brilliant architecture like the penguin pool ,snazzy, but unsuitable for Pingu and friends and now empty and the Mappin terrace which now has Australian animals as it wasn't suitable for the bears it was meant for. These things are grade 1 listed so the poor zoo is stuck with them. The upside of that is that you can enjoy architecture and animals on you zoo visit.


Who let these animals out?



Our big 5 didn't include the usually kind as the bigger creatures are mostly in Whipsnade where they have more room. Here they are
Number one Ocapi. This really is a horse designed by a committee



Otters, singing and playing waiting for their lunch (horsemeat rather mysteriously)
Warthogs with snazzy Flock of Seagulls hairstyles
The excellently named Spledid Starling
And finally these guys need no introduction

5 comments:

Alice said...

Ah, we carried off the "no, no, it's not cold at all" look very well I think! No one will ever know how cold we were! It was such a lovely day out , thank you for having such great taste in Birthday treats!! xxxxx

oreneta said...

I quite adored London zoo last time I went AGES ago with one of my kids when they were small. Glad you had fun!

Adrian Jones said...

Loving the warthogs, they are so my favourite - and we had to go all the way to South Africa to see them!

Hope you had a lovely birthday :)

xxxx

Mr K said...

Its a superb starling- still an excellent name though!

Mr K said...

I was also impressed that the otters out cuted the meerkats.