Brom gets fishy

Coocoo

I told Mara to help me write these posts about our holiday, but she had to work again and didn't have that much time. Not even to make a Photo on Sunday! But here I am again and I will tell you all about the rest of our holiday in Northern Ireland. 

Guess where I am? NOT IN THIS PICTURE!!!

Because of Mara's gammy knee, we had to take it easy a bit, but Gera had found the perfect outing: the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. I thought it would be really close to where we were, but it was a long drive. And a short ferry ride as well. But then we had arrived and we went to see the fish.

As you know I am a bear and I think bears and all other animals should live their life in their natural habitat (mine is with Mara). Sometimes that is not possible and in that case a zoo or aquarium might be a solution. 

The Exploris aquarium did not only have a lot of beautiful fish, it also was a baby seal sanctuary, where hurt and wounded seals would be cared for until they could be returned to the wild. We saw how two of them got fed (and a whole load of opportunistic gulls as well).

The keeper had to use this big stick to keep the birds in check,
so they wouldn't eat all the fish meant for the seals.

There was an otter family that was part of the repopulation program. The two adults were in one pen and the four girls in another as they were already old enough and that was what would happen in the wild as well. The girls would be moving on to other zoos to mix the bloodlines.

The otters were fed mice this time.

And then there was a large crocodile that was rescued from someone when it was only a few hands long! The person who had wanted to sell it, was perhaps not too sure about how big it would get! It was massive, as you can see from the photo at the top! And don't worry, there was glass between us, I would never ever ever stick my head in a crocodile's mouth.

It was a great day out and it hadn't even finished yet, but I will tell you more about that on Wednesday.

Talking about zoos...

You may remember that last year my sister and I made our way to a great zoo right here in the Netherlands. If not: click here. Now, that zoo was originally situated in the center of town. Almost like Artis in Amsterdam, but even more central. They had a big problem though: they wanted to expand and couldn't.

In the end, a site was found for them not far from the center, but with great potential and that's where they moved to. And you all know what happens to prime real estate in the center of a town, don't you? 

Well, not in this case. The town council decided that even though the zoo was no longer there, the area would remain as was, more or less. You can still see some of the animal enclosures and even though quite a few of the buildings were removed, plenty remained. 

The whole zoo area is now used by galleries, acting/art schools and classes. It is a park still with plenty of people using it. And yes, there are even some animals in a small petting zoo/pet rescue. 

There was also a tea house where my friend Pepperfly and I enjoyed our tea and nibbles. It may not longer be a zoo, but I am so glad no property developers were allowed in! This is much better.

Artis

I showed you some photos yesterday of several different animals. Not animals I would encounter in every day life (apart from the gold fish, which would be quite possible). And in fact, I did see them all in the zoo.

No, not that long ago...

It was a zoo I had only been to once and that was so long ago (I was a small child I believe), that I couldn't really remember anything. The zoo is called Artis and is located in Amsterdam. Not a city I want to drive a coach in, but that was exactly what happened last Friday.

Stone coral

I had looked up how to get there and I did. Just don't ask how, because I don't think the route given to me was the route taken by me! It kept sending me to small streets adjacent to canals where driving a car is bad enough, let alone a massive coach! But, as I said: I got there and parked and everybody got off. While I prepared to wait until they came back.

Well, wait? I was going to visit the zoo myself, no way was I sitting on that coach for several hours! Now, Artis is located in Amsterdam as I said. Not in the center itself, but close enough. And it is surrounded on all sides by houses, so it is not that big a zoo. But it was quite a nice zoo to spend a couple of hours. 

There was a large aquarium housing smaller and larger fish, but also fossils and the like. Very interesting. There were birds of all plumage. There were some camels (no photos), monkeys, lions, elephants and several other animals. As I said: perfect to spend a couple of hours and there were plenty of people with toddlers doing just that. 

There were also some bronzes about and there were two that really stood out for me: one of an animal keeper and one of a giraffe. The latter was one that I wouldn't mind having myself, as it was just a fun sculpture.

When all the children and the teachers had returned to the coach, we left and took a different route back. Not quite sure how or where that went, but we made it to the motorway and back to the school. 

Of critters and things

We call them 'skull monkeys' in the Netherlands
The English name is squirrel monkey

My sister and I had decided that while she was here, we would do something fun. And there was plenty of choice as well. Amsterdam or nature or a zoo or something else altogether. In the end we picked a zoo. The Wildlands Zoo in Emmen. 

Prairiedog

The zoo used to be in the center of town, but as they couldn't expand anymore, they moved to just outside the center. At times it was hard to see animals, because they would be asleep in the sunshine, under the trees, behind some rocks, in the water, in the trees or wherever they were. Other times we were able to get really close up and take some quite nice photos. I think so anyway.

Hippoppotma Hippopotpot Hippo

There were three distinct areas in the zoo: an area dedicated to water/cold with penguins, sea lions, polar bears. An area dedicated to jungle with monkeys, birds, butterflies, fish and Asian elephants. And the third area was dedicated to the plains with lions, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, prairie dogs, wallabies and some others. 

FOUND HIM!

We walked around and I think our favourite was the jungle bit. The squirrel monkeys were 'loose' and you were able to follow them through the trees and bushes and on occasion get really close to them. Butterflies are always fun. 

Baboon mum and child

There were several rides as well. The first one left us decidedly underwhelmed: much work needed to make it halfway decent I felt. The second ride was a boat ride through a jungly bit which was good fun. Several species of monkeys, birds and the Asian elephants were visible. All indoors, so nobody could escape of course!

The camels basking in the sun of the derailed train

In the Serenga area we went on a safari ride. It took about five minutes, but it was good fun. The last ride we did was a rollercoaster. Even Brom screamed, but whether that was because I held him too tight or whether he was scared?

A turtle? Or is it a tortoise?
In Dutch they are both called 'Shield Toad'

We had great fun on our day out in the zoo. It was not like we remembered the old zoo to be, but on reflection, several areas looked a lot more natural. Giving animals more room and trying to mimic their natural habitat in any way is always good.  

King of the jungle having a lazy day

Monkey watching

While we were quite happy spending two days at the craft fair, we felt that three would be pushing it a bit, so we decided to spend our last day in Dublin visiting the zoo. We were staying in a hotel within ten minutes' drive of the zoo (well, it would have been, had the signage been up to scratch), but we eventually made it after 14 minutes and paid for our tickets.

The weather had been foul during Friday and Saturday, but on the Sunday it was glorious: bright blue sky and hardly any wind. Fantastic. We walked around a bit, not only admiring the animals, but the displays of Chinese lanterns. They were used for an evening event, when they would be all lit up, but even during day light, they were very impressive. 

They depicted not only animals but characters from Chinese history as well. So fantastically done with wires and some sort of plastic over the top, but they really gave the things they depicted some definition. 

After having spent quite a bit of time watching a giraffe eat some leaves off a tree and some gorillas clamber down a tree, we needed some sustenance. It took ages to get our coffees though and by the time we had finished our lunch, the weather wasn't as nice anymore: dark clouds had moved in. 

By the time we had about seen our last animal, the first drops started to fall and by the time we got back to our car, the drops had turned into a down pour! By the time we got back to the North however, the rain had ceased again and we got home in the dry. 

All in all though: it had been a good weekend.

Z is for...

Zoo

Have you ever been in a zoo after the zoo closed its gates? Well, if you ever get the chance, don't just sit around, move around and take your camera. Because for some reason all the animals behave completely different when there's nobody about! No pressure to 'perform' I guess.

Humboldt Penguin

In October 2009 I found myself in the zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands. A zoo with a history. The owner personally shot his animals when the Germans invaded the Netherlands (nobody seemed to want to have lions and tigers roaming free), but saved a few polar bear cubs. And lately they've established a bear zone. Not with wild bears, but with the bears that were rescued from dancing in the streets or from 'medical' purposes, ie being locked in a tiny cage and having their bile removed every day: painful and stupid.

Rescued bear looking out into his new world of relative freedom

Like many zoos around the world, their main goal nowadays isn't showing off animals in tiny cages, but education, preservation and breeding. That's why most zoos nowadays don't have the full range of animals anymore, especially if they have space issues. Having three types of animals in nice large pens or enclosures or ten types of animals in small cages...

Baby Barbary Macaque

Anyway, after the gates closed I was still in the zoo. On purpose, since the group I had driven had a special arrangement. But it meant I was able to look closely at some of the animals, for example those bears! They came out and were a lot more active. And the polar bears were more playful and behaved like a family of teens.

For more Z-words from around the world, please check out ABC Wednesday and join in the fun!

Photos taken in October 2009 in Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen, the Netherlands

Warthog

My colleague. Photo taken in the hot and humid part of dessert/ocean/bush part of the zoo.

You might have wondered a bit about that photo of a warthog I put in my post yesterday. After all, warthogs don't usually have much to do with virus scanners and computers. But since my regular computer is in the shop and with it most of my generic photos and pictures, I needed another one. And since I have visited a zoo only a few days ago, I posted a warthog.

I was with a colleague at the time. A nice and friendly man who will do a lot to help me get the best possible pictures. Every time an animal refused to cooperate, he would make funny sounds and call 'here kitty kitty', even if it wasn't a kitty, but for example a warthog! It made for an interesting visit though, since we must have had some strange looks thrown our way! I told him he couldn't just call kitty to a warthog, but then again 'hey warthog warthog' doesn't have the same ring to it! And in Dutch the name of the animal is even longer! Shortening it to warty wasn't an option either: people would then just give you solutions as to how to get rid of warts!

Despite all his best intentions, the funny looks and the occasional cooperation of some of the animals, I didn't manage to get a lot of good photos. And a zoo without any maras: not a proper zoo at all!!!

Mara

My dear readers and followers will know that my name is Mara. But apart from it being my name, it is also an animal. A hare-type animal that roams in South America and is also quite often found in zoos. So, when I went to the zoo last Saturday, guess what my quest of the day was! Right!!

Unfortunately the mara didn't feel like meeting its namesake (me) that day and decided he would much rather stay indoors, watch some telly, drink some hot cocoa and eat some crisps. Leaving me with the above sign!

*Grumble*