About a week ago I returned from a brief trip to Portugal. It was the first time I’ve managed to have some leave overlap with one of my friends, so out of our potential European destinations we chose to fly to Porto. Ultimately we spent two days in Lisbon and two days in Porto. Although my friend is easy-going, I wasn’t expecting to visit as many animal places as I would otherwise have hoped; but in the end things turned out well. Overall the trip was amazing. We had excellent weather, outrageous quantities of good luck, and met many incredibly nice people.
'Animais exoticos' exhibition On arrival in Lisbon by train, I persuaded my friend that we would alight at Oriente station, and then visit the Oceanarium. As we crossed the site of the 1998 World Expo (for which the Oceanarium was built), we found a lot of advertising for an ‘exotic animals’ exhibition. I thought it was worth a quick look. It turned out that this exhibition of ‘over 200 animals of 100 different species’ was actually quite big, with entry priced at 9 euros. Set up taxonomically across several rooms, the majority of specimens are relatively common pet species. Indeed, the entire collection is owned by a company called ‘Alves Pets’. However, among the reptiles displayed is one of the best collection of geckos I’ve ever seen. Other interesting species included Woma, Southern flying squirrels, variable squirrels and spotted owlet. Despite the large amounts of available space, the animals are still housed in small, cramped enclosures, as if they were still in their pet shops. Enclosures for the owls, coatis and some of the monitors were among the worst, but generally all enclosures would have benefitted from being larger.
Lisbon Oceanarium Next was the Oceanarium. My first visit was in 2011, and since then it’s probably been my favourite aquarium. I had told my friend that if he only goes to one Portuguese collection, this had to be it. Another thoroughly enjoyable visit. A fantastic main tank, with outstanding satellite exhibits. The temporary exhibit for sea turtles is emptier than last time, with many of the turtles now released. I think it’s coming to an end soon. After checking in to our hotel, we spent the evening lazily exploring the sights and beers of the city centre.
I'm enjoying your travelogue of Portugal, devilfish. Does the Oceanarium still have sea otters? Somebody mentioned that they had the only sea otters in Europe at one point.
Aquario Vasco da Gama The next morning we woke up early to see the main sights of Belem, including the Jeronimos monastery (housing the tomb of Vasco da Gama), Belem tower and monument to the discoveries. I had seen them previously, but we toured in further detail this time round. I then split up with my friend, and while he went to the botanical gardens, I visited the old aquarium, Vasco da Gama. Highlights include the marine collection of Dom Carlos I and the museum on the upper floor. Preserved specimens include Mediterranean monk seals, boobies, a number of invertebrates and deep sea fishes, and two goblin sharks. The living displays focus on a variety of species. Larger enclosures for Cape fur seals and sea turtles appear to be inadequate, and among more 'standard' freshwater and marine exhibits are a number of innovative enclosures, and some very interesting animals. A corridor is lined by a preserved giant squid and educational exhibits on one side, and tanks of native invertebrates on the other. Another pair of small rooms house some fascinating amphibians. The native marine tanks aren't as rich as I'd hoped, but still are quite interesting. The layout of the aquarium is quite odd, and I would love to see an extension built to the same high standards as some parts of the aquarium. Despite the presence and dominance of the Oceanarium, there were still several school groups and other visitors in the aquarium during my visit, so it may be feasible for Lisbon to have two popular, world-class aquaria in future, with some work.
Lisbon Zoo A taxi then took us to the zoo for a fairly late visit. Although not particularly rushed, it would have been nice to have had some more time at the zoo, especially as the sun went down while we were visiting. Overall a very interesting zoo. I really liked some parts of it, but I appreciate how dated some parts of it seem. Even my friend was a bit uncomfortable with how bare or sometimes how small some of the hoofstock paddocks were, and although I've seen much worse, there's plenty of potential for improvement. Some of the newer exhibits are excellent, tigers and apes were a highlight, although there's still plenty of scope for improvement, particularly with the outdoor ape enclosures. I missed the cable cars and dolphins, so I'm not sure how much that would have impacted on the final verdict. A nice European zoo with some interesting animals. With a lot of money and attention it could really be something spectacular.
Sea Life Porto After another evening in Lisbon, we took the train early the following morning back to Porto. After dumping our luggage at our guesthouse's reception, we spent the day wandering about the city like normal tourists, visiting churches and libraries, climbing towers, eating pastries and francesinhas (basically a giant multi-layer sandwich coated with a fried egg and melted cheese and drenched in a 'spicy' sauce), and tasting port in the wine cellars across the river. Evening came, and then I encouraged my friend to come with me to the Sea Life Centre for the last hour of opening to see if there's anything special. So we went on a crazed bus/taxi hunt and eventually got to the Sea Life Centre with over an hour to spare before closing. Interestingly maps were provided in three languages, (Portuguese, Spanish and English), and guidebooks were available in other languages as well. Although the attempt of the centre to be at least trilingual was admirable, it was far too limited by the digital signage displays which are found across the brand's aquariums. A normally painful wait to identify a single species in a mixed tank would have become even more difficult. This is probably my biggest criticism of the aquarium. What use is a sign in an aquarium when people can't easily use it to identify or learn about a curious-looking fish? The aquarium itself is ok but mostly quite a standard Sea Life setup. An interesting addition was a display on recycling and masses of rubbish in the sea.
Zoo da Maia Our final day. I didn't know how to use this best. I gave up on visiting the parks/zoos which were too far out from the city centre, so I was limited to three which would be easier to get to: Parque Biologico de Gaia, Zoo de Santo Inacio, and Zoo da Maia. A bit of research showed that it would be possible to do all three without much trouble, so to make the most of the day I started with Zoo da Maia, a small zoo which opened at 9am, an hour earlier than the other two. Expansion plans are under way, and a few areas have been renovated. The reptile house has been renovated and is quite nice, though most of the animals are quite common, even as exotic pets. On entry, the first part of the zoo consists of a patchwork of waterfowl and crane paddocks. Quite nice, but with limited numbers of animals in each enclosure. The zoo's nucleus is a series of paddocks and enclosures for a variety of animals. Most of these are quite small, with larger replacements being built downhill. Enclosures here include the first mixed mandrill-porcupine enclosure I think I've come across, and a lynx who intimidated the lone leopard cat in the neighbouring enclosure. The gibbon enclosure here is magnificent, and it seems they have the ability to swing into the trees overhead and potentially brachiate around the zoo, but I'm not sure that they do. Most of the other enclosures are standard at best. Downhill is the newest section, with building work still taking place. Completed so far are lion, leopard, tiger and zebra enclosures, which are all quite nice, and at least adequate. The larger cat enclosures are nice. I didn't stay for the sealion performance, feeling that I'd prefer to spend the time at one of the zoos south of Porto.
Parque Biologico de Gaia It took about 1 hour 15 minutes to get here from Zoo da Maia by metro and taxi. I later found out that it's a 25 minute taxi ride and only a couple of euros more expensive. Wisdom for next time, I guess. I loved this place. An enormous, very well-done woodland area scattered with nice enclosures for native species. I lost track of time here, and spent much longer than I should have. Many animals here are rescued/rehabilitated animals which can't be released, and some of the first enclosures include a small pair of glass-fronted aviaries, one for a black-winged kite, and another for a long-eared and short-eared owl. A very good omen. The oak forest within the park was teeming with red squirrels, and left me hopeful that I might be privileged with a brief sighting of a Pyrenean desman, but I wasn't quite so lucky this time. In one area of the park, behind rehabilitation aviaries for pet parrots is the 'biorama', a series of biome-centred enclosures. These are mostly plant,bird or dinosaur-oriented, but those which feature birds are very impressive. The larger rainforest and savannah enclosures house a number of interesting species but they're so fast and free that it's hard enough to get a glimpse, let alone photograph them. I ended up skipping a large circuit of the remaining woodland trail to the boar enclosures in order to save time, but was still very easily distracted and delayed. It seems very easy to spend an entire day relaxing here. I hope to do that at some point.
Zoo Santo Inacio Given the time constraints and lack of available taxis, I decided to walk the full kilometre from Parque Biologico de Gaia to Zoo Santo Inacio. Not particularly wise; I was far too heavily dressed and a bit dehydrated. Even once I got to what looked like the zoo's gates, it was still a fair walk to the main entrance. I was greeted very kindly, and the ticket desk offered to keep watch of my bag and coats. The reptile house was well-done, with some enclosures having access to outdoor areas. The monkey complex included an enclosure for a family of Tonkean macaques. Some of the newer enclosures were nice but quite bland, including an Asiatic lion enclosure, and a Savannah mixed exhibit. In the centre of the park is a lake with an island for ring-tailed and black(?) lemurs, and I watched some interaction between peccaries and a tapir in a mixed enclosure. Other ungulates included mhorr gazelle and Somali wild ass. Probably my favourite thing in the park was an inconspicuous patch of grass inhabited by free-ranging prairie dogs. Visitors would approach for photos and be amazed by how close they could get. Some would even touch the animals. I would have liked to visit the Insectarium at the zoo and have wandered around exploring some areas a bit more, but I felt that I needed to sacrifice that freedom in order to catch my flight back to the UK. I'm glad I got a good taste of the place, and I didn't feel that there's much left to see although a few species I'd noted on zootierliste must have been in hiding during my visit. I decided to take the taxi all the way back to the city centre that afternoon, where I met up with my friend and we caught our airport transfer. A brief tour, but we both really enjoyed it. I'll try to post some photos shortly, and some maps will be going up on zoomaps next weekend.
