11 May 2015 - London, Day 5: We're Going to the Zoo!

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I will unashamedly admit that my journal entry for Day 5 begins with, "Wake up, Potter! We're going to the zoo!"

I can also unashamedly admit that I had found and entered the Reptile House within about two minutes of making it through the gates and into the zoo. To my delight, I discovered that the zoo has a board up in the Reptile House to commemorate the filming of a portion of the first Harry Potter movie there. I wasn't expecting an actual, physical reminder of that, and it felt good to realize I wasn't the only person geeking out over my memories of Harry and the Burmese Python.

Look at him! He's so small! And the oversized clothes!
Ah, memories. Thanksss for this moment, London Zoo.

After I'd revelled sufficiently in the Reptile House (which also has plenty of cool reptiles, not just goodies for Harry Potter fans), I started my exploration of the rest of the zoo. If you have any interest in zoos whatsoever, you need to see the London Zoo at least once in your life. It is an excellent place, with a wide variety of animals and some attractions that were especially unique and interesting. These included a group of silverback gorillas, who have both an interior and an exterior enclosure in which you can observe them. One of the gorillas had recently given birth, and it was fascinating to watch her interacting with her baby. Obviously, this was an especially popular sight, and so it was a bit difficult to edge my way in and get a picture, but I think I captured a fairly good one:

One of the other really excellent attractions at the London Zoo is the Sumatran tiger exhibit. The tigers have an entire tiger-themed area devoted to them, and visitors are invited to watch them playing and interacting with one another through huge windows. There are two adults, who had three cubs in 2014, which was a very happy occasion because Sumatran tigers are critically endangered. They have toys, like the large inflatable ball that you can see reflected in the window here. They weren't especially active during my visit, but they did walk close enough for me to snap a few pictures of them from time to time, and just seeing them up close was an experience in its own right. They are truly beautiful creatures, with the grace of overgrown house cats but the enormous teeth and muscles of meat-eating wild animals. I'm pretty sure that I got the male, Jae Jae, in my shot here.

With these two big-ticket attractions down, I made my way around to the rest of the zoo, not really looking for anything in particular. I came across a few really gorgeous animals, and my pictures do them more justice than trying to describe them ever could, so here are some of those. As a side note, I really enjoyed this opportunity to work on my photography skills, breaking out my telephoto lens for some shots and practicing getting obstacles like cages to disappear by adjusting focus. The birds, in particular, were a delight to photograph, because they're so bright and colourful. I'm really proud of some of the shots that I got, so you'll notice that I've put a small watermark on the ones below. I hope it's not too intrusive, but I'd really just like to protect these ones in particular as best I can.

This one is very special. This is a Socorro dove, and Socorro doves are
extinct in the wild. It's amazing to think that I took a picture of a bird
that doesn't exist outside of captivity.

This one needed a sign to assure people that it was not dead! It moves very,
very little, and apparently people were concerned about it. The butterfly house was
incredible--it was a big, inflatable enclosure filled with free-flying butterflies.
Walking through the humid air, with butterflies and moths zipping by on their
jewel-coloured wings, was absolutely fantastic and one of my favourite parts
of the whole day.

A statue of Winnie the Bear

I saw pretty much everything there was to see, minus the farthest reaches of the "Into Africa" area, an omission that I was not exactly heartbroken over. I had seen so many wonderful things in one day; it wasn't going to hurt me to not see a couple of zebras. On my way out of the zoo and back to the Tube, I once again admired London's beautiful Royal Parks. This one was Regent's Park, and, on a warm and sunny day, it was a real pleasure to walk through. That's me in front of one of the many gardens in the park, which also boasts fountains and a lovely tree-lined walkway with plenty of benches. You can see some people in the back who were enjoying the beauty of the park as much as I was! All the walking I did seemed so much nicer with these parks to appreciate on the way.

My long-anticipated day at the Zoo done, I went to bed that night just as excited for the next day, when I would take my first train ride and visit Oxford.

Continue to Day 6

Go back to Day 4