...depending on your route north, I would certainly recommend the two good zoos close to Le Mans - La Flèche and Spaycific - ahead of Pessac. The Vallee Des Singes, too, is wonderful, and should not be missed!
I've added a couple of images of the Jaguar Tank at Bordeaux/Pessac. I'm sure all the lovely people that pushed in front of me despite my standing a very reasonable distance from the tank got some better shots, but that's life.
Thanks, I'll have a look. The underwater polar bear viewing at La Fleche is amazing, well worth visiting for that.
Realising that I'd booked my ferry from Dunkirk rather than Calais, I popped into Fort Mardyck Zoo today for a couple of hours, concluding my shortened tour. Apart from not appreciating the time on the road and the cost before hand, my poorly motor was another factor in me cutting this tour down. Bloody thing seemed alright after leaving Dover! If it runs right over the weekend, I'm going to give it damn good thrashing!
On the ferry home, I started scribbling things down about my trip, in order to help me remember my adventure and in some way 'reward' zoochatters for their input. I was starting a third page on Cerza alone, when I thought “I'm just rambling” and am not even half way round the zoo! So, I started again with Mardyck where i'd just been, but found I was just scribbling notes of no interest to anyone. Now I'm home, I can refer to the maps and my photos to aid me build a review from my perspective, as a photography hobbyist. Bare in mind that I was focusing on larger mammals, which I am sure is disappointing to the fans of all the other wonderful creatures, but some bird and reptile features get a mention too. On the ferry though, I did complete a list on order of what I may have enjoyed the most. This is influenced by time spent, photography success, weather and value, but I'm not doing a points rating; I may look back and think “ooh, that visit was better than I initially thought!” Anyway, I'm rambling so here's my list of visits in the order of satisfaction, rounded up to the hours I spent there. Zoo de Cerza - 7 hours ZooParc de Beauval - 10 hours Zoo de La Fleche- 8 hours Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno - 6 hours Parc Zoologique de Fort Mardyck - 3 hours Réserve Africaine de Sigean - 7 hours Vallée des Singes - 3 hours Zoo Aquarium de Madrid - 10 hours Rio Safari Elche - 4 hours Barcelona Zoo - 6 hours Zoo de Bordeaux-Pessac - 2 hours
Parc Zoologique de Fort Mardyck - 3 hours I'm struggling to keep my 'review' brief for Cerza, my first stop, as it was so big. Therefore, i'll start with my last stop, in Dunkirk; this place can be walked around in under ten minutes, whereas Cerza's map had me scratching my head for more time than that! After paying, you head towards a building with a pond around one side, with some Harbour Seals in it and a separate pond with Pelicans. The building I have only just learned is a temporary exhibition and has an underwater viewing area, but I didn't investigate it. You can also walk around it, which takes you past a couple of fenced Owl enclosures; these have viewing ports, are quite spacious and are home to Barn and Snowies (I think). There is then a duck pond, with Flamingos on your right and a walk through containing Spoonbills and Egrets on your left. I've only been to a couple of places with Beavers, but not seen them awake, so wasn't surprised that they were tucked up asleep in the next hut and their nice little pond was quiet. Next to them are the Otters, a pool either side of the pathway connected by a tunnel; these were asleep too. There is then a rather large enclosure and a few buildings which is referenced as the educational farm. There are Pygmy Goats, little Donkeys and hens dotted about and one barn houses ferrets and rabbits. I think there were other critters in here, but again I didn't investigate. I passed through the picnic and play area, peeked into the Mink enclosure without seeing it and the cramped Bird of Prey 'caves.' I wasn't expecting to see any activity in the next enclosure either, where I'd learned that morning some Lynx kittens had been born recently. Nope, all tucked away in a bush, but their area was a decent size with various bits to place about in. Opposite them is an Ibex enclosure and then some Reindeer (these were awake). Next to this, is a mixed enclosure with Vultures, goats and I think there were Ibis in there too, but I wanted to see the Brown Bears opposite. Asleep. So, I still had another two and a half hours before I thought I should make my run to the ferry and nothing I wanted to see was awake. I swapped my lens and started snapping away at the enclosures and as often happens when I do this, things appear that require a longer lens. After taking some pretty poor rushed shots of the Otters which had started swimming between pools, I headed back round to find a Bear up and foraging, a big Blonde fella, while the smaller Brown lad watched from his bed. They share a decent sized grassy enclosure, the a few things to play with and a little moat. As I bounced back and forth between the Otters and the Bears, I noticed the place was getting a little busier and people sort of flowed in one direction or another after short announcements came out from the PA system. I followed the flow after one of the announcements, to find both Bears sitting in the open and ready for a feed. There was no accompanying talk, just a couple of staff casually throwing fruit and veg to the boys below. A little later, I was lucky to find a keeper in the Beaver section and then two of the creatures came out for their portions. At last, I've seen an active Beaver! Again, no talk, but I think someone was being trained to do their target health checks. Nice to watch. I pottered about a bit more, thinking “those kittens wont come out until about ten minutes before I should leave” … and sure enough that's what happened. It was nice to get a few shots of them but I stuck to my time limit, even though I'd arrive at port with plenty time to spare. All in all, Fort Mardyck was a very nice little place to spend a couple hours in the sun for only €4. If i'd been leaving a couple of hours earlier though, I might not have seen anything and it would have been a different review. Oh, and I've just realised too that there is another few yards around the corner from the Bears that I didn't notice at the time, where Peccaries, Marmosets and Macaws live.
Barcelona Zoo - 6 hours My impression of Barcelona is heavily influenced by what I believe was a rare wet day in the city. I headed straight for the Big Cats (passing the Giant Anteater, which was not visible) and was immediately disappointed with the Lion and Tiger areas. Although both have unobstructed views, they are relatively narrow strips of rock from what I remember; two lions were out and asleep, while a Tiger was just slipping out of view as I approached and that's pretty much all I saw of them all day. There were a number of Dorcas Gazelle out next door, which were quite photogenic when in a spot of sunlight, but as I carried on around the path nothing else was catching my eye. The narrow Jaguar and Leopard enclosures do not look appealing at all, with their heavy fencing, although I'll come back again later to at least try and spot them. As mentioned in other members' posts, there are many creatures crammed into the small footprint of the zoo and it's not helping my my disappointment with the grey start to the day. At least it was still dry …. for now. To be honest, I can't be bothered writing much more about my visit here. The weather and the number of other British people around made me forget I was on holiday. I'll upload a photo of a chimp that did make me laugh out loud though. After swaggering away from the rest of the group, doing that thing where they keep looking at you to as they walk round, he started splashing water back at the waterfall. Then he launched himself at it, and holding a kind of surfing pose as I clicked away. The rest of my visit just felt like a slog and their burgers are rubbish.
Zoo de Bordeaux-Pessac - 2 hours I may as well get the other wet, but short visits out of the way. Bordeaux started off sunny, but rain was forecast, so I decided to pop into Pessac Zoo before going to Vallee de Singes. This is a small zoo, similar to Linton and Shepreth in some respects with it's cramped layout and basic facilities (don't ask about the toilets!) I was just curious to see what the Jaguar enclosure with underwater view was like and hoped something else would keep me occupied for a while. Although I'm not fussed about White Lions and Tigers, both pairs were quite active, but difficult to photograph due to the windows and heavy fences. The Leopards give you a great view though, with just a waist high fence and dry moat between you (as well as a couple of other glass viewpoints.) The three of them were also very active. I hadn't noted the bird display on the way in, but was preparing myself for the Jaguar talk and feed …. when the heavens opened. Boy did it chuck it down for about ten minutes prior. Any window viewpoints were now pretty much useless for decent photographs. So, as I said earlier, I positioned myself at a respectful distance from the Jaguar tank, but as other people came it was obvious that they had no such consideration. I decided to take a position behind everyone having to stand on a wall, while another photographer balanced himself on a chair back and rickety fence. The keeper then urged visitors to move back, to roughly where I originally thought was a respectful distance. If I wasn't an ignorant Brit with no second language, I would have enjoyed the talk more, as the keeper dropped pieces of meat into the tank, but it was interesting to watch none the less. If you are in the area and it's a nice day, then pop in for a bit … but not for the toilet.
What's wrong with the toilets? Great recaps so far, I hope the fair weather reviews are a bit more enjoyable as so far it appears to have been no different than going to UK collections!
Yup, I was thinking that at times. Cabarceno will follow this, which was a mixed but slightly less damp day. Vallée des Singes - 3 hours By the time I'd worked out my way to the Valley of Monkeys (sat nav has it down as a beauty spot rather than a zoo for some reason) the sun was out, but an obvious threat of rain was not far away. This is definitely an all day place for me, if the weather is good. I rushed around to see what was what, but first waited to witness the Chimp feed; I didn't expect the x-rated behaviour from a couple of the boys though … I wont post the photos. Their island is quite heavily wooded, so I imagine they are hard to see other than at talk times. I strolled round the path to find some Capuchin prancing and playing on another smaller Island, then Black Lemurs and Red Bellied Lemurs freely roaming around the pathway. The map is difficult to navigate, but the place is a pleasure to get lost in, as you get the occasional nice surprise of something popping out of a bush or tree beside you. I stopped for a baguette at a picnic area overlooking the Gorilla island, but they were keeping their distance for now. They share their home with Guezera and Red Tailed Guenon / White Nosed Monkey (not seen these before) and I eventually snapped all these later. I spent a few minutes at each are while making my way to the Bonobo, as I was hoping to get some 'cleaner' photos than I usually manage at Twycross. My first pass through was unsuccessful as all but one were inside their large house, while my second attempt after doing a full circuit was timed with an almighty downpour. I still had over two hours to drive to my hotel, but I stuck it out a while longer, grabbing a handful of shots on the way round, but none of the Bonoboooos. I missed closing time for the hotel reception as a consequence (silly me).
Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno - 6 hours Someone on here and on another forum suggested this park to me last year, or before and I was really keen to see it. I'd changed my route because the weather forecasts were not great for the area and it looked like I had lucked out still. After the blistering heat the previous few days further south, arriving at nearby Suances in the evening drizzle was a downer. Having a guy practicing “Happy Birthday To You” on guitar in the next hotel room didn't help. Forget the weather. I arrived at the gate the next morning over half an hour early, but wasn't quite the first. Queues built up steadily behind until they let us in 10 minutes early. The way in I'd arrived at I now see has a Reptile House and Sea Lion show area, but neither were of interest to me today. This was going to be a real challenge for my old Fiesta, as the stepper motor had been playing up since hitting Southern France. The park is an old mine and has narrow roads sweeping through a network of steep hills and dips. There are already photos in the gallery giving an indication of the size of the enclosure, but really you have to see them. I headed for the Tigers and Gorillas, who share a car park (although, they have no cars themselves thankfully) and only spotted one White Tiger out. Two regular colour cubs (maybe a year old?) were contained within a small paddock, which seemed a shame given how much room there was. The adult was high on a hill looking down towards them and this is pretty much how it was for the day. I didn't see the Gorillas come out all day and only wizzed through their busy house later in the day. At the centre of the park, there is an area you could spend a few hours in alone, as a field containing Giraffe, Elland, Wilderbeest and Ostrich is flanked by the large Brown Bear enclosure and the main eating area. The restaurants have other critters to view and the Birds' arena (which I overlooked) within walking distance. I'm not sure if you can stroll from here to the bears, but their hillside is just a minutes drive from the eateries. On my first drive around the park, there were a number of bears dotted around the hillside, while a few more were scattered around below. Later I was lucky to arrive just before feeding. The number on the main flat area had doubled and as the snack van prepared to enter the excitement grew, with several small scuffles breaking out amongst the bears. Basically, a van drives around the enclosure with cuts of meat, bread and veg dripping out of the back, while the bears chase it. This goes on for about half an hour, with the driver throwing bits of meat to any inhabitants that appear to be missing out, or fighting over a particular scrap. As well as this, wild Black Kites swoop around picking at morsels, often from arms length of approaching Bears. All very entertaining. In general, the park offers amazing views and is almost worth the drive alone (in a reliable motor) and now has the cable cars, which I didn't try, to transport you to other areas of it. I stopped momentarily for the Cheetahs, a couple of whom were strolling around near their house and the furthest point from the main viewing area. This seemed to be a common practice amongst all the cats and the wolves; stay at the furthest point from the main viewing crowd, or keep close to the buildings. The Jaguars and Lynx were all asleep in their relatively small enclosures. Like many zoos, you could feel cheated by the number of favourite animals remaining inactive, but this park is a unique experience. There are various other inhabitants, but looking at my small photo selection from the day, it appears I missed many them. In good weather, I could happily do a two day trip here trying to get all of them.
Réserve Africaine de Sigean - 7 hours So that's the last of my rain reports out of the way. Saying that, when I arrived at Réserve Africaine de Sigean, it was overcast and grey. In I went at opening, along with about half a dozen other vehicles with no understanding of the layout. There are several Brush and Savannah drive throughs which you are free to enter with your windows down, so a good place for a few photos. The map only has symbols to identify each animal in their respective area, so I'm not sure what I'm looking at as I drive through the first 'parc'; I'm on a mission to see the young Asiatic Black Bears, so don't spend time working out what's what. I find the Lion and Bear parks entrances are next to each other and am handed a leaflet ordering visitors to wind up windows and to not stop 'near' the animals. The Lions' gate isn't open yet for some reason, but the Bears is … and there are around 6 of them hanging about near to it. I'm instructed to keep moving past them, but am glad to see so many of them and in various levels of fluffiness! I've only seen Dudley's old boy previously and I find it a sad sight to be honest. I slowly drive around their park hoping to see more, but it's only when you get to the entrance/exit again, that you find the cubs and mum in a smaller containment; they look as if they want to go inside, so I leave them for now to see the rest of the Reserve. The foot park is indeed a zoo in itself. I took the path overlooking Cheetah and Hunting Dog enclosures, the latter of which were up and looking curious, before winding along to the large bird pool. It does almost feel like another continent with all the Flamingo paddling about in the lake. I take a few snaps of some Bittern that look like they using twigs to fish in a separate aviary, before strolling slowly along past various other dusty enclosures, including goats, zebra and meerkat. Although it's warm, the clouds aren't clearing, so much of the scenery lacks any real punch for me. I find the Chimps Island, which is rather big and has several little huts and climbing apparatus around the edge of the natural bush and trees. There are a couple of youngsters and a baby which does not let go of mum throughout my visit, from what I could see. They entertain me for a while, but I make the mistake of heading back to the Bears around midday. My little car does not have air conditioning and was like an oven, which was torture as I joined the half hour crawl behind other visitors. Most of the bears were out of view in the long grass, but I could see a couple on top of an old building in the middle of the park. By the time I reached them, they'd rolled over and out of sight. By this time, several cars were getting fed up and trying to rush past the patient queue and push in further ahead. One such driver tried this with me after settling alongside 6 cars in front of me. We were all bumper to bumper and fed up, but this guy decided to try and ram himself between me and the guy in front. Eventually he wound his window down to start yelling at me (against the rules, I should have reminded him) before the van behind let him in. By the time I got to the cubs' enclosure, they were out of view too and the idiot behind had pissed me off. I needed to get some air, so bypassed the Lions and headed for the chimps again and something to eat. I weighed up my options while driving through the other savannah/bush parks and trying the Cheetahs again. Eventually I decided to try the Bears again and found that only two or three cars were there, so I managed to go around a few times unstressed and get a few pictures of the cubs wrestling …. all rubbish because my car windows are minging. I passed through the Lions once during this time, but wasn't particularly blown away by it. I don't like safari parks in general, so although I wouldn't revisit Sigean, I would not put other people off going. And apologies for the lack of detail regarding species and numbers throughout these reviews; this was probably the least informative.
Rio Safari Elche - 4 hours As I was meeting a friend nearby, I thought i'd spend an afternoon here first knowing she was not a fan of zoos. There's a small waterpark and pool at the entry as well as regular swimming with seals opportunities, which I didn't expect. Going in, there are several monkeys on display, within a glass fronted enclosures; not good viewing with the sun glaring on it. I walk round past the 'train', the goats, cattle, camels (sorry for the vagueness, but I was relying on zootielriste to help with the finer details, but it hasn't been loading for me since last night) before finding a development at the far end of the park. Looks like a Lemur walk through is being built as well as something else alongside these are behind the Striped Hyena enclosure which I go to next. There's a tunnel that runs between the White Lions and Hyena, with a basic pool for Pygmy Hippo at the mouth of it and a Meerkat house/pen. Because of the location, the whole site is very dry and dusty, so the viewing windows for the Lions and Hyenas are difficult to shoot through, as have the Jaguars I would soon see. The Tigers have a good vantage point overlooking them without glass. They were quite active later in the afternoon, but were not the best conditioned I have ever seen; rather plump and caked in mud to possibly cool down. The Jaguars were not very lean either. The Orangutan have two large climbing frames, although I think the male was confined to one side, with Gibbons, while a group were on the other. The Chimps have a larger frame and were active throughout the afternoon. An English family entertained themselves throwing popcorn to a couple of them, but I wasn't in the mood to give them a reading lesson and show them the Do Not Feed The Animals signs. The In general, it's a very basic and dry park which is probably worth a family visit because of the waterpark (and go-cart) outside.
Zoo Aquarium de Madrid - 10 hours I arrived in Madrid mid afternoon on a Saturday and did consider going straight to the zoo, as I had read closing times through summer was 7:30. I chose instead to chill out then pop into the city centre, not realising until the next morning that the zoo stayed open until midnight on saturdays in the summer. That would have been a bit different. So, the next morning, I arrived and made straight for the Giant Panda. Dad was out and active, chomping away, then sniffing around for more tasties and this carried on as I went to look for the youngster. Mum and the one year old were still inside, while a keeper sorted their outdoor enclosure out. When the door was opened, mum made straight for the climbing frame and got stuck into a bowl of something. The little one came out shortly after, quite cautiously really, but was soon clambering about the frame. Bored with her mum ignoring her, the cub made for a tall tree. Having only seen the fairly inanimate Pandas prior to this trip, it was a joy to pop back to see these throughout the day. The youngster did spend a lot of the time sleeping in the tall tree, balanced precariously over it's boundary fence, but when it was awake, it's clumsiness was most amusing. Mum spent ages licking from the bowl she'd grabbed early on. While Dad showed some great character. At one point he'd been locked out while a keeper restocked his pantry indoors, which drove him into a bit of a frenzy, throwing himself at the trees, hopping up and down and generally running frantically around his enclosure. As well as revisiting the Giant Panda several times, I visited the other Bears, Tigers and Lynx several times, while taking in the rest of the zoo. There are four Brown Bears sharing a fairly decent sized, but rocky enclosure at eye level to the visitors. At various times, one maybe two would come right to the front looking for snacks from visitors I guess. There appeared to be 3 Black Bears in two lower level enclosures deeper in the park and two Sun Bears next to them. Although they have room to move around, these enclosures just make me think “Bear Pit” and offer little stimulus or shade for the inhabitants. The White Tigers and the Lions have large concrete angular platforms to parade on, with a bit of grass. These reminded me of some kind of 60/70's scifi movie, where animal exhibit had been left abandoned by a war torn civilisation. The Iberian Lynx enclosure is decent in my opinion, with good views when they are away from the back and plenty of light getting in (unlike Lisbons) to show them off. My persistence paid off and I managed to watch and snap them for a good 30 minutes at the end of my visit; throughout the day they slept in the shade near the back. This zoo generally reminded me of Lisbon, in that it needs much more greenery in the enclosures, but what can you do in this environment? There are plenty of trees and grassy areas as you walk around, but so many of the enclosures are just different levels of dust and rock. That said, most of the animals are quite accessible offering good views for pictures. Apart from the Apes; these enclosures were like Barcelona's to me, but on a bigger scale. Even tough there was not a cloud in the sky, I could barely see the Chimps outdoors; big reflective glass viewing windows looking into dark climbing areas. The Orangs appear to have a large, very dark cave and a small outdoor area, but I didn't see much of them either. The Gorillas, when I found them, have a cave network with open air 'greenery' but pretty much remained out of sight for my brief stop. I didn't bother with the Dolphin or Sea Lion shows, but took a rest in the Bird Show. I used to enjoy bird shows, but having seen Beauval's the previous week I can't imagine coming across another one to touch it. This one was pretty standard, with various birds flying in from various points, announced in a language I'm too ignorant to understand. Generally, I think it's a decent zoo, with good sized enclosures, but as someone else said “nothing special”. If the Iberian Lynx had shown earlier in the day, I would have left much earlier to explore the city more to be honest.
Zoo de La Fleche- 8 hours So, you enter and have the choice of squeezing through to see the Elephants in their nice sandy enclosure, similar to Colchester I suppose, or squeezing past people admiring the flamingos and macaws within yards of the entrance. I was making a beeline for the Polar Bear exhibit to assess the photographic opportunities, when I realised i'd left the camera on another lens, in the car; Pah! No drama getting a stamp and bypassing the long queue outside to re-enter; phew! Passing the White Lions enclosure that looked pretty quiet, I notice a sign which I sort of translate “to transition for infants,” so I guess there are cubs off show (just noticed lots of photos and footage on their facebook). I later see the father briefly and heard him several times throughout the day. It's not a particularly large enclosure, but if they are breeding I assume they are happy enough with it. I pass other similar but smaller enclosures, with big viewing windows, one of which has a group ooohing and awwwwing at something, but I am on a mission. Past some busy little caves housing Fennec Foxes and Meerkats, the relatively small (in my opinion) Giraffe enclosure and a curious little exhibit for North American Otters. Although empty at the moment, the restaurant area I walk through will be heaving later but the Burger Bar does serve up a decent product. Past the sea lions show area, a couple of small exhibits for Asian Short Clawed Otter and Penguins on it's periphery, then the grand Polar Bear display. It's a pretty big water tank with a large, lush rockery set behind it. Although not visible just now, I pass through a couple of times before the first show and find one Bear retracing a few steps back and forth in the same corner. For now, I carry on round to see the Wolves in a nicely set out 'wood' with rock and water features. 3 of them are lying out in clear view from different perspectives. From there a tall tree lined path winds it's way to the White Tigers, who have a smart garden to pose in, an average sized but attractive Red Panda exhibit, then a mini farm. I look at the map again to see where I am in relation to the Fishing Cat, something I have failed to get a good clear photo of in the past. I'm at the opposite end of the Zoo and it begins to feel huge. On the way through the park, I can't help but notice how fresh the whole place feels, with lots of trees and nothing 'theme parkish.' I go past a relatively large island that appears to home a handful of Black Lemurs, before entering Yukon Valley. This is quite a nice enclosed hillside where several Brown Bear live. Although mostly surrounded by a solid fence, there are several viewing windows around two sides, a Lodge overlooking another while the bottom of the hill is open. It's a pleasant natural looking wooded view, with water trickling down between rocks into a pool. Although the bears were mainly out of view on my passings, one did come down into the water for a while and I did see three large specimens late in the day. I carried on round past the bird show arena which was already filling up, 30 minutes before starting and found a pleasant pond encircled by greenery for a mixture of Lemur to clamber around in; there were a couple of Red Ruff sleeping in branches, while Ring Tailed gathered on top of a hut. Coming back past the bird arena, I hear other people expressing confusion regarding the map, but leave them to it, as I'm just as confused. The area is simple to navigate looking at the map now, but on the day I was rushing a bit to get a view of everything before the hordes spread out. After passing through some more lush garden areas where I believe Pelicans and Parrots live, I find my way down to what is the new land opened up for the Rhino. It's a large sloping field, ringed with smaller enclosures for more Red Panda, aviaries, Siamang and the Fishing Cats. The field has lengths of tape around some of the freshly planted vegetation and looks like it'll be great in the near future. I head for the Fishing Cat and am very pleased to find a relatively bright enclosure with a clean window running the length of it; two cats are in view with one looking like it was actually scanning the pond for fish. A clear shot or two at last! Making my way back to the Yukon Valley entrance and on to the rest of the zoo, I pass an enclosure that looks like it's ready for it Jaguarundi residents, then some Coatis with young scampering about, some Cheetah in a quite small but pleasant enclosure and Hippo with little more than a small pond. Passing the homes of non visible White Fronted Lemurs, the Servals and finding the Sumatran Tigers, I realise I'm nearly back at the start. The tigers have a decent sized place, with a good viewing window at one end as well as a cave to get a lower perspective. There are further cages for various Primates from Mandrill to Marmosets and a Vivarium before passing the Chimp enclosure near returning to the starting place. Having finished the whole circuit, I realise the Zoo isn't as HUGE as I first thought, but it is big and packed. I'm happy to go around a couple more times to see what I missed earlier, such as the Black Leopards who appeared to be getting on well. Unfortunately, the rain did not hold off and came down very hard later in the afternoon, but I used this as an excuse to take an early seat for the Polar Bear talk. It was obvious there would be too many people again, as all the seats were taken and people were asked to sit on the wet floor, which many did. On the lead up, it was fun watching kids reacting to the one Bear swimming right up to the front of the glass, but impossible to get clear photos for myself. During the talk itself, a second older Bear appeared but he didn't enter the water, which frustrated the keeper who was barely able to throw scraps of food far enough to reach it. I think the talk was pre recorded and simply accompanied the throwing of meat. Eventually, I let the rain get to me and left a couple of hours before closing.
I'm going to keep the final two reviews brief, although I loved them both equally and more than the rest of my visits. Two huge parks, one housing animals in fairly natural surroundings, the other in more themed, commercial settings. Zoo de Cerza There are two paths around Cerza; the hilly Yellow path and the flatter Red. There is also a train (which I didn't bother with) that gives you a different view of the main enclosures, as well as an exclusive view of the Sumatran Tigers (which I therefore didn't see). The Yellow path winds through woodland and past “Asiatic Plains” housing Rhino and hoof stock, hillside enclosures for Crested Macaques, Gelada and Brown Bears, through Wolf, Cheetah, White Tiger territories as well as Kangaroo and Gibbon Islands. Its' hills are quite demanding, but it was just the star I need for the week. It's highlight was the Andean Bear cub, in a decent sized enclosure with a clear view over it's inhabitants. The Red Path is shorter and packs Lions, Hyena, Painted Dogs, Leopard, Lemurs and Pygmy Hippo into fairs sized sections of a wooded area. There is also the African Plain with Giraffe, Rhino and hoof stock, a 'farm' area for petting little goats etc and a Parrot aviary. The indoor area probably has a couple of gems too, the Flying Fox being a standout for me, having not seen them so illuminated before. ZooParc De Beauval I'd say this is similar in scale to Chester Zoo (if not bigger) and is definitely worth a two day trip. I arrived shortly after opening and wanted to see their Giant Panda enclosure first. My only frustration with the zoo was getting through the first pathways, as there are so many smaller displays creating a bottleneck and today looked busy already. Brown Bears, White Lions and Tigers (and Sumatran), Puma, Hyena as well as various aviaries and monkey displays are all a short slow shuffle from the entrance. I could have taken a right turn near the entrance and walked past the Monkey and Gorilla (one of them) Islands to save my self time, but I eventually broke free of the hordes and found my way to the Panda on the left flank of the zoo. The male was in a tree snoozing, while the pregnant female remained out of sight. Without going far, you can take in Snow Leopards, Red Panda (I'm sure a French teenager referred to me as “Panda Roux” in the afternoon, as my bald head baked and my specs kept my eyes white!) Takin and Fishing Cat, while a little extra legwork takes you to the larger Elephant paddocks and Rhino territory. I eventually caught Dad to be Panda wondering about his enclosure at one of the many talks held there. Their home really does put Edinburgh's to shame. The right flank of the zoo has a new Lion exhibit which is very smart and most of the pride, with 3 (?) cubs proudly displayed on some rocks. This area also has the wonderful bird display, Hippo tank, Bongo (including a couple of youngsters), Painted Dogs and various eateries. The two flanks of the zoo are only connected to the central strip at one point each, which can get busy, but it's worth the 'effort'. There really is so much to see at Beauval, it requires some one more eloquent than myself to take you through it. Someone with note taking skills too, as I haven't even mentioned the indoor displays, such as the Manatee and Tree Kangaroo which I hadn't seen before. Sorry if these are a bit too brief; I might come back and expand on them later.
If I was to drive from Calais to Berlin, with a single stop on the way before returning via Gelsenkirchen (only to see the dwarf Polar Bear really) and a couple of dutch zoos, where would you suggest I go?
