thanks. I think I would include the month in the little title above the posts (something like Alexandria Zoo, Egypt, February) because of the lag in the thread posts.
Giza Zoo, Egypt - February 2016 It took us almost 2 hours to cross central Cairo and arrive at the zoo. That left less than 2 hours to see the place. Of course I've visited many times before, but it would have been nice to have longer to see the whole zoo. One of the main things that stood out this time was the hostility I received from staff. Pretty unpleasant. I was stopped on entry, questioned and demanded to provide ID for the other families visiting with me too, because I'd bought a ticket for Egyptian citizens but apparently my hair 'doesn't look Egyptian'. I was questioned again in the reptile house and by the gazelle paddocks because my camera and systematic (/obsessive) photography made it look like I was taking photos for commercial purposes. All of this obviously took more time from an already tight visit. Despite having paid him to let the foxes out for visitors to see, I was grunted at and ignored by the keeper when I asked about the fennec foxes and Egyptian wolves which he'd left locked in the indoor quarters (presumably so he could get a few more coins to let them out for someone else). Another thing that stood out was the especially poor treatment of the animals. A large group of raccoons in the fox house's outdoor cages were taunted with tiny scraps of food, to the point that they'd be seriously fighting each other to get closer to the food. I saw another keeper, showing visitors around the inside of the monkey house, teasing an adult olive baboon with a scrap of food but when the baboon became agitated he started to beat the baboon with a stick. Incredibly unpleasant. I wished I could have unlatched the door to the cage. Pretty ridiculous overall. This time even more than ever I felt that the zoo really desperately needs to change. I can't see why things are allowed to proceed like this despite advances in other zoos around the world in the last few decades. Notable changes: - the zoo now has a spacious cheetah enclosure - the jungle cat kept in the fox house is reportedly 'sick' (no further information available, and I was unable to verify whether more are on display elsewhere in the zoo, despite an enclosure labelled for them on the map) - only one female orangutan remains from the infamous importation of three animals from Al Ain.
Sorry everyone - there's going to be even more of a delay before I catch up on this thread. The last few days have been especially busy, and I've just booked my next trip. I leave tomorrow for Kuala Lumpur, with a number of interesting stopover points (including Beijing, Taipei and Istanbul).
Then : Have a nice trip devilfish ( but with such places on your list I gues that would be no problem !!! ) !
Agreed. Although DevilFish has my personal email and I will hint that something exciting is coming in the South America updates!
Attica Zoo, Greece - February 2016 I was really really impressed by the zoo. Prior to my visit I’d heard that the collection was mixed but the quality of much of the zoo was poor. I’d been told that the rescued monk seals are only periodically on display through a small dirty window and that there wasn’t much on site to call home about. The truth is that this zoo houses an amazing collection of animals; birds are of course its greatest strength, but when the mammalian line-up sometimes includes Mediterranean monk seals (and Somali wild ass, a couple of oryx species, as well as covering many of the ABC animals) I can’t imagine a need to complain. The herp collection here is also very good. The bird collection is scattered across the site, mostly in various rows of aviaries but there is a tropical bird house and a set of walkthrough aviaries which each showcase a selection of taxa grouped by continent. The site is very nice to walk around, with fantastic grounds which display a great variety of Mediterranean flora. One thing which particularly impressed me were the zoo’s newer signs – most of these are trilingual and have a ‘did you know’ section, often with genuinely interesting or obscure facts. I found myself learning a lot! I didn’t know, for instance, that their Montserrat orioles are descended from 9 founders brought in by Jersey. I also didn’t know the polyandrous (or panandrous?) dynamics of Barbary macaque groups, or that fallow deer may have originally only been found on Rhodes and across Turkey (although I knew that they had been spread by the Romans). The emphasis here really is on education, which was very good to see. Large signs were dotted throughout the zoo highlighting different rescue and conservation efforts for animals in the zoo’s collection. I was also very pleasantly surprised that although the dolphin stadium was packed with over 1000 other visitors who could all speak Greek, the show was also delivered in English just for my benefit. I’ve never had that treatment before when I’ve been so significantly outnumbered. Nearby is one of the zoo's prize exhibits (but empty at the time of my visit) - a cabin housing a room used to rehabilitate rescued Mediterranean monk seals. Although viewing is limited to glass windows which are shielded by screens with large gaps in, visitors can get a decent view of the enclosure. The rhino & cheetah mix is another fascinating combination - photos in the gallery show the barriers and interactions of the two species. I'm already looking forward to a return trip to Athens; a wonderful city with what is actually a very good zoo.
Sea Turtle Rescue Centre, Greece - February 2016 After a tiring two days I went to sleep surprisingly late, and so napped again the following morning after an excellent hotel breakfast. I still had a lazy morning afterwards, but when planning my route to the sea turtle rescue centre, I was made aware by Google maps that an Uber (taxi called via a mobile phone app) would be affordable and much faster. Unfortunately Athens' Uber system was saturated for over an hour, and so I called a standard cab which took 45 minutes and took double Uber's estimate to get to the centre. He didn't know where I wanted to go either, so we got a little stuck, but I made it in the end. The small centre sits 5 minutes walk away from Paleo Demarhio tram station. It is run by the NGO Archelon, who rescue injured and unwell turtles, as well as publishing research and supporting conservation efforts. Their base here, in Glyfada, is open to the public on weekends only. Visitors are accompanied by a guide who explains more about what the centre does. Small rooms are housed in abandoned train carriages on their tracks. These include an educational room with a projector screen and presentation posters on the walls, and a small reception/shop/office which also displays a large number of jars containing some foreign bodies removed from the insides of sea turtles at the centre; mostly fishing hooks and fishing line. Outside are a number of small pools used in the summer to help build strength in turtles which are candidates for release. Nearby is a small greenhouse which contains smaller plastic containers, each housing a turtle. There were (I think) 20 in here, with a further three held in a more enclosed area. The vast majority are loggerheads, although a few green turtles are currently in care. Apparently several years ago they also treated a leatherback weighing over 100 kg (but I don't know how successful the endeavour was). Several of the turtles in this greenhouse required heated pools, tube - feeding, antibiotics, and other therapies. Remarkably, almost all initial management is performed by the team from Archelon, with a local vet visiting weekly (and when there's a new admission) for reviews. Pools and turtles are cleaned daily, and it's quite an impressive project. The majority of turtles come in with issues usually secondary to ingesting foreign materials, or after attacks (usually from fishermen in anger after the turtle has swum into and ruined their fishing net). Typically members of the public will then come across them on beaches and then call Archelon. Their education programmes are therefore incredibly important, and the centre hosts educational visits all week round. I spent almost an hour there, but it didn't need that long at all. The centre does some great work and the surrounding beaches of Glyfada are beautiful, certainly worth a visit. Apparently one briefly hosted a monk seal the weekend before my visit! The nearby tram stop has a service 3-4 times per hour to the city centre, the 31-stop trip takes about an hour and costs 1,40€. A pity I didn't know it was so straightforward before taking a pricey taxi there. On the return trip I was very pleased to pass by the city's old airport; a small, drab terminal which I have spent many, many hours in previously, but had never left the building.
Athens Royal Menagerie, Greece - Failed visit Feb 2016 I attempted to visit the former royal menagerie in the National gardens on one of my sightseeing days, purely out of curiosity. Some animals are still held there but it's not an exciting collection list. Unfortunately all the garden's gates were locked and there was a sign on the gates stating that they were closed until further notice by order of the police.
Avifauna, Netherlands - February 2016 From my hotel in Athens a taxi driver was due to take me to a metro station so that I could get the first train of the day to the airport. The hotel called him but I hadn't realised that he had no idea of my destination until we got quite far out. Somewhat fortunately he'd assumed that I was going to the airport, but that meant a much more expensive fare. During the journey, he told me about his years living in Germany and of some special traditions in Athens, like 'every year they close streets on one Sunday for some people to walk, but walk fast, from Athens, all the way to Marathon - some 40 km away. People come from all over the world to do it, and the winner is almost always Ethiopian.' He was incredulous when I told him that this race has been adapted in many cities around the world, and that it is called a marathon and is a similar length to the distance between Athens and Marathon (I omitted that the traditional distance had been extended). Our discussions were peppered with other illuminating facts from both sides. I eventually got to the airport, stopped over briefly in Munich and then arrived in Amsterdam. Although it had been a thought when I booked the flights, until two days ago I'd forgotten that I arrive at 1.30pm, in the hope I might be able to squeeze in a zoo or museum visit. Being relatively near to the airport, and with a nearly direct bus service, I went to Avifauna. Fortunately my flight landed early and baggage was quick to arrive, and so I had over two hours to visit the park. A medium-sized park but dense and nicely done, I quite enjoyed my visit. I have no doubt it would be much better to visit in the summer, but I wonder whether a few of the things that bothered me would still be there - poor signage, empty aviaries, some parts looking neglected, off-show/absent animals... I have hope because the newest projects look absolutely outstanding. The conference area and restaurant in the centre of the park look more like facilities of a luxury cruise liner, and the hotel also looks great. The new hummingbird aviaries under construction are incredibly well-planted. The biggest highlights for me were due to be the two species of hummingbird listed on zootierliste. Unfortunately the zoo now only has a single hummingbird, kept off-show, and it's an Amazilia emerald. Kiwi also not on display, along with many other anticipated birds, but the hornbills looked great, and the tropical house was outstanding. Labelling let the house down more than anything else, but a full species list here at its prime would have been incredible. As I say, plans are still ambitious, so I assume that this is a great collection in hibernation rather than a bird park turning into a shadow.
Today marks a new step in the year of adventures. It is the last day that I'm completely off work. I've now moved to Scotland and I start full-time work tomorrow again. A couple of weekend trips are planned before the year is over, but otherwise I'll be stuck in reality. The only internet I get here is off my mobile network, so I won't be able to upload many photos while I'm out here. I'll see what I can manage.
As you said yourself Avifauna should look much better in summer and it does ! During the winter many animals are housed off-show behind the scenes but in summer most of the birds are in their aviaries and it realy is a very good collection but.... the signage is realy bad this year as I could see myself on an earlier visit this year. A pitty you didn't see the Kiwi. The one in the Nocturnal house is relative new ( a male ) and still quite shy, the pair in the out-door aviary can be rarely seen during daytime althrough the female of this pair is a quite tame animal which showed herself very well when still in the Nocturnal House ! Since she and her mate are outside you have to be very lucky to see her ( during winter I even don't know if they are in this aviary (? ) but 2 other ZooChatters managed it to take photos of both animals this year and -althrough not able to take photos of it - I saw one of them the same day .
