Things are winding down here in London. I’m trying to fit seeing any sites that I haven’t seen yet into this last week. I’ve seen most of the things on my list so I’m now visiting places of less tourist-y attraction and more so places that I’m curious about. So this week I went to the London Zoo!
The London Zoo is very close to my flat so I picked a nice sunny day to visit because most of the Zoo was outside. It was a relatively small zoo but it had giraffes, tigers, zebras, gorillas, penguins, and many others! Unfortunately, they were doing construction on the lion exhibit so they could not be viewed. Regardless, I had a fun time roaming around the almost empty zoo because apparently I picked a very off-peak time to go.
I haven’t been to a zoo in a while so I may be wrong but I noticed a few differences in this London zoo as compared to zoos in the States. For example, the rainforest section with monkeys and birds was an open exhibit, meaning you walk through the doors into a humid and misty jungle area and the monkeys are climbing on branches over your head and running past your feet. I don’t recall if this is a common thing in zoos back home but I don’t think our exhibits at home are so immersive. It was quite unsettling at first because I didn’t realize that there was no fenced in area for the animals so I was really startled when a monkey ran past my foot and zoomed up a tree. After I realized what was happening, I walked through the attraction super slowly so that I didn’t scare anything and so they didn’t scare me! There were multiple attractions that were open like this at the zoo, but zoo employees supervised all of them in case anything happened. The fact that there were signs warning you to not touch the animals because they bite was enough of a red flag for me to avoid a few of the exhibits.
The London Zoo is very close to my flat so I picked a nice sunny day to visit because most of the Zoo was outside. It was a relatively small zoo but it had giraffes, tigers, zebras, gorillas, penguins, and many others! Unfortunately, they were doing construction on the lion exhibit so they could not be viewed. Regardless, I had a fun time roaming around the almost empty zoo because apparently I picked a very off-peak time to go.
I haven’t been to a zoo in a while so I may be wrong but I noticed a few differences in this London zoo as compared to zoos in the States. For example, the rainforest section with monkeys and birds was an open exhibit, meaning you walk through the doors into a humid and misty jungle area and the monkeys are climbing on branches over your head and running past your feet. I don’t recall if this is a common thing in zoos back home but I don’t think our exhibits at home are so immersive. It was quite unsettling at first because I didn’t realize that there was no fenced in area for the animals so I was really startled when a monkey ran past my foot and zoomed up a tree. After I realized what was happening, I walked through the attraction super slowly so that I didn’t scare anything and so they didn’t scare me! There were multiple attractions that were open like this at the zoo, but zoo employees supervised all of them in case anything happened. The fact that there were signs warning you to not touch the animals because they bite was enough of a red flag for me to avoid a few of the exhibits.
Here’s a funny story: I stopped at the small café to get a muffin for a snack during my visit and then proceeded to walk outside and sit down to eat said muffin. No sooner had I taken a bite than a group of little brown birds swarmed me and flapped in my face demanding my muffin. I stood up and walked away because I figured mobility would deter them from attacking me. Wrong. One hovered in front of my face in what he must have thought was an intimidating manner until I batted him away, gobbled up my muffin while walking away as quickly as I could. I’m guessing since the birds were free to fly about, that they weren’t part of any attraction and were simply native London birds. But gosh, if you were going to have food in the open air at a zoo that attracts a lot of wild life, maybe some indoor seating would be wise.
In any case, the zoo was quite fun and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This week I also visited a Christmas market, the Tate Modern art museum, and The National Gallery. I don’t have any pictures from those but there are plenty of zoo pictures in the DECEMBER gallery.
With only one week to go, I am definitely feeling ready to come home. I feel that I have exhausted a bunch of the things that I wanted to do in London and I’m now playing a bit of a waiting game with all my free time. I still have a few things to visit so hopefully I’ll have a somewhat interesting final post for next week.
Also, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our flat because I made a festive tree to get us in the holiday spirit!
In any case, the zoo was quite fun and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This week I also visited a Christmas market, the Tate Modern art museum, and The National Gallery. I don’t have any pictures from those but there are plenty of zoo pictures in the DECEMBER gallery.
With only one week to go, I am definitely feeling ready to come home. I feel that I have exhausted a bunch of the things that I wanted to do in London and I’m now playing a bit of a waiting game with all my free time. I still have a few things to visit so hopefully I’ll have a somewhat interesting final post for next week.
Also, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our flat because I made a festive tree to get us in the holiday spirit!
A lone British fact for the week:
Check out pictures in the December Gallery!
Thanks!
- The reptile house in the London Zoo is the one featured in Harry potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone where Harry makes the glass of the Boa Constrictor disappear. Unfortunately, there was no boa in the reptile house when I went.
Check out pictures in the December Gallery!
Thanks!