On Monday we went to London Zoo and contrary to my pessimistic expectation it didn't rain. In fact the weather was rather nice. We went with our friend C and her son, Matty's friend from school, taking advantage of the way we could all fit into our car because C's husband, an airline pilot, is currently stuck in Washington because of the Icelandic volcano.(Every volcanic aeroplane death cloud has a silver lining, apparently.)
London Zoo has changed since my youth. Gone are the elephants and Polar bears circling confined enclosures, going slowly mad. Instead the emphasis is on conservation with Gorilla Kingdoms and Rain Forest experiences. I particularly enjoyed the Night Life experience, which was not a disco but a chance to see all sorts of nocturnal creatures knocking about naturally.
I am slightly suspicious that many of the terrariums in the reptile house were empty despite signs saying they contained a Taiwanese Spitting snake, a Borneo Bouncing lizard or a Completely Invisible Sleeping newt. Occasionally I did spot a snake but it might quite easily have been a rubber one from the zoo souvenir shop. Telling me how cunningly they used camouflage didn't fool me.
Sam, having been to see the film How To Train Your Dragon was keen to see the Komodo dragons. He was disappointed to find they neither flew nor breathed fire but was slightly mollified when I told him how they could kill a buffalo. Matty found it difficult to choose a favourite animal, being torn between the giraffes and “those catty things with spots near the tigers.”
It was a good final day of the school holidays.
Until next time. . .
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