Yesterday, we used the good weather for a trip to the Zoo. We have been meaning to go there with the little one for a while now, ever since she enjoyed petting the dog of our friends so much. The Zoo in Zurich used to be rather small compared to other Zoos in big cities, but during the last years, it has undergone some big changes regarding the compounds. As many other zoos, they started to group animals according to their natural surroundings, creating different habitat foci to experience. Two of the early habitats they created are the Pantanal (South-american wetland) and the Masoala Hall, the flagship of the zoo. It’s a Madagascan rainforest on 11.000 square meters where you can walk around and, with a bit of luck, see chameleons, geckos, flying foxes, lemurs and so on. It’s one of Karsten’s favourite spots in Zurich and we bought an annual ticket as soon as we moved here. The new habitat which is going to open in June, is the Kaeng Krachan elephant park.

Pantanal Zoo Zurich

But going to the zoo with an almost 10 month old young baby means visiting the zoo with a slightly different perspective. We leave out most of the big animals and focus on a few other instead (the annual ticket really pays off now!). We stopped immediately right behind the entrance gate where a rocky area with life-size penguins was constructed last year – absolutely perfect for someone who is about the size of a Humboldt penguin! We spent a lot of time there, the little one was happy and distributed kisses, especially to the blue penguin.

It was then followed by a short visit of the flamingos and the capybara, an interested examination of an ant, lunch (slightly distracted by the peacock two tables down) and enthused observations of geese and storks. During a small nap of the little one, Karsten and I visited the seals and the otters (finally saw one!) and, when she woke up again, we went to the petting zoo. The little one really enjoys petting animals, as long as they don’t get too wild. The goats were maybe not the most ideal animals for that, but she still had a lot of fun. So did we. And the bark mulch next to the compound is perfect for calming your nerves and some contemplation….

The rest of the afternoon was spent in our garden where we did some more spring work (update will follow soon) and the little one happily sat in the grass, watching our neighbours. Highlight again: stroking the hair of their teenage son and his father! Far less boisterous than the goats 🙂