The Berlin Zoo

Today we went to the zoo. Not just any zoo, the Berlin Zoo!! Known as the most diverse zoo in the world, Berlin boasts an impressive 17,000+ animals including over 2500 species!!

This is the day I have been looking forward to for a VERY long time! But first, our morning in short. Woke up to sloppy roommates alarm at 7:00. And sure enough she got in the shower and was STILL in there when we got up at 8:15!! Good thing we showered yesterday! We were packing up when she came out. We made small pleasantries, found out she's Canadian. We have our packs very organized and easy to unpack/pack within a couple of minutes, keeping everything within easy access. She started picking up piles of clothes and shoving them into her pack, without rhyme nor reason. I think we figured out why there was stuff everywhere!

It was raining when we crossed the courtyard for breakfast, so no bunnies today. :( our breakfast was totally worth the €5 we paid. They had eggs, sausage, toast, jam, cereal and juices. Twas a good start to the day!

Finally we were off to the zoo! Those who know us are aware of our love for zoos and animals in general, so please imagine our excitement to go to one of the best zoos in the world!!

We got the zoo/aquarium duo ticket which was only €15/ person! It was raining most of the day, but not pouring. And it wasn't cold or windy, so it was comfortable.

Just entering the zoo you notice differences. The enclosures are very large and mostly open, with little or no bars. Most use the moat method to keep the animals in their designated areas. The first animals you see are Alpaca Llamas, which was really random.

From there we discovered a whole house of types of chickens and pigeons (in a zoo!?!), then off to the gorgeous primate house. The enclosures offer indoor/outdoor space for the animals to roam freely between the two. Most of the primates were inside, avoiding the rain so we got some great pics!

All in all the zoo portion took about 4 hours to discover. Along the way we saw animals we had never seen in real life, including: a giant panda, an aardvark, bush babies, spring hare, wallaby, sloth bear, Asiatic black bear, Fennick fox, King penguins, jaguarundi, rock hopper penguins, and more!

I cannot describe the cuteness of a panda in person. OMG!! Wow! It may be the only time in my life that I get to see one of those adorable bears in real life, and I'm so happy I did!

Also, the Berlin Zoo is a happening place for "Zoo Borns"!! Seriously! Every other enclosure had a new born animal from this year or at least one that was less than 3 years old!! We saw a baby orangutan, hippos, rhino, deer, llama, monkeys, seals, zebra, a litter of capybara and more!! It was precious!!

Other favorites included the very nice Okapi enclosure, housing 3 of my favorite animals! We saw their pack (7 total) of white wolves (which Heather was stoked about!) The gorillias were spinning in circles and doing flips on their ropes in their area! The ferry penguins were in an enclosure where they were easily pettable (though we refrained), and were swimming laps in a group of 10 or more. The polar bears were out sunbathing...in the rain. (Rest in piece, Knut. Wish we had gotten to see you!!) The lion and tiger were roaring at eachother. The hippos were swimming very gracefully around their pool (which has a underwater viewing area for visitors)

There was an amazing nocturnal exhibit that had low lighting for the animals' comfort, but still enough to see them very clearly. So we got to see the Aye-Aye!! Usually you can just see their shadow at the exhibit in Denver. Heather also saw her first live Armidillo! They also had random nocturnal animals like hedgehogs and gerbils. Haha!!

All of the animals were super active and seemed happy. I hate going to zoos with bars and the animals look depressed and just lie around. All of the Berlin animals were having a great time in the rain!

After seeing all of the mammals we went in the aquarium and found out there were more surprises to behold! The aquarium houses many beautiful fresh and salt water fish. They have a handfull of sharks, eels, rays, cichlids, jellyfish, sea horses, puffers and even an octopus!! Their tanks were very pretty with plenty of view points to see all of the fish.

The 2nd floor of the aquarium building houses the reptiles. Once again, they had huge beautiful enclosures with lots of species cohabitating. Most reptile enclosures I have seen anywhere else have one of each species in cookie-cutter glass terrariums. Not here! There were 3-5 of each species in the exhibits. It was really nifty! In the crocodile exhibit a smaller croc was being overrun by turtles! When I say overun...I mean there was a turtle sitting on the back of the croc! It was funny.

Once we finished exploring everything we headed back to the station and caught a ride to Prague, Czech Republic. So here we are in Prague, one of the few cities that saw little/no damage during either World War. It's old town is supposed to be breath taking! We'll find out tomorrow! Until then we'll just keep chatting about that super cute panda!!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather