Mega zoo tour at Netherlands

It is only a subspecies of Gorilla anyway

 

How is your budget for travelling within the Netherlands? For example, if Amsterdam would be your city of stay during this trip, I expect total train costs of about 120 to 130 euros for travelling to Arnhem, Zwolle, Harderwijk and Apeldoorn (about 15 euros one way for all mentioned cities).

 

Thanks for advide, but in my situation I have no other chance to do. I must buy the plane tickets tomorrow. For print the tickets I need my mother's computer as mine don't have printer. My mother will be traveling from next week to October for celebrate the 50th anniversary of marriage with my father. I also find too difficult to do this kind of business (buy plane tickets and these kind of things) very difficult, probably I could do alone, but I always did with my mother, except for some non-international flight.

If the date approaches and @vogelcommando is still silent and disappeared from the forum (that only could be very bad news like some accident, I hope that this will not happen!) and really none of the mentioned zoochatters from Netherlands also can't host me (I'll try my best for molest the less possible, using the place just to sleep and charge batteries), then I will search for paid hosting and maybe will cut some zoo for saving money instead.

@Vision: it's a nice critter, but not enough exciting for make worth the visit. (It would worth the visit if I'm hosted in Antwerp instead Brussels... so maybe you can play a role in that ) It's just a species from a genus that I already have, extremely similar to the other species (to the point that in the past it was widely considered conspecific), I find great apes as boring animals in general (just personal taste, maybe because being too popular), and the two most important points: a) I already have photo of a taxidermy specime (I always give preference to alive animals, but taxidermy ones are enough for tick the "have" case and publish a species factsheet with my image), and b) just one exciting species will not worth a travel to a zoo, they must be various species (unless it's a thing so heart-touching for me as a porpoise, just my personal soft spot for cetaceans). Honestly I prefair to see the jungle bush quail (a missed opportunity at Plzen, as they was so nervous and moved constantly so fast that photograph them was impossible) and the Vieillot's black weaver (can you ever imagine a most beautiful weaver than this species?) than the Eastern gorilla.

 

I must calculate the budget depending on my hosting city, and for know the city I depend on @vogelcommando reply or, if the date approach, on the "B plan". Anyway I hope to bring some excess money for unforeseen and to have enough margin. If a zoochatter can make the zootour with me in car, I suppose the costs will be much lower, but I think that this is ask too much.

 

First of all I hope everything will work out for you @Kakapo and you will have a great time at these amazing institutions

The decisions that you made are good

Aside that this may not help, bit may be worth to be mentioned

The natural history Museum Amsterdam
The collection has moved (at least a part) to Leiden, which of only a part will be moved back one day to Artis, after the great Museum will bw renovated (across over from the waddy bird aviary) and will cost a seperate fee

Once again I hope ypu will have fun
I would have joined you at a zoo visit, bit I am not near that area at the moment

 

I recommend visiting Antwerpen (if possible)

If the eastern lowland gorilla isn't it making here for you, the architecture will definitely

 

Hello dear pals,
Plane tickets bought. Still to buy the boarding passes and to plan the visit (still waiting for @vogelcommando, if he can't, nobody of you could?), but the first step is done. Will arrive to Amsterdam airport on 19th september 2018 at 22:25, and will leave from Brussels (Charleroi) airport at 28th September 2018 departing at 07:05. Somebody (if vogelcommando is not available) can bring me to the airport to the city or the contrary?

 

That is a very long shot and Brussel-Charleroi airport is in the town of Charleroi, which is quite a distance from Brussels. Belgian trains are cheap enough....

 

Oh, I tought that it was at Brussels. I took this option because it was the cheapest. I will go by train then.

 

Hello! After a lot of troubles and almost deletion of my travel, I finally found somebody to host me in The Hague. Any reccomendation of places with special rare species besides the next ones?
-Burgers
-Zwolle market
-Harderwijk (for porpoise)
-Apenheul
-Artis

I've tought in Rotterdam or Avifauna as the best possible fillers if I find additional time... Any other place with dreamed species that I must see?

 

Blijdorp is close to the main railway station of Rotterdam (ten or fifteen minutes walk) and it's a short trip from The Hague, so that's a sure recommendation. It's a very well excecuted Geo-zoo with quite a few rarities like rufous elephant shrew, slender loris, Balabac mousedeer and Francois leaf monkey.

Avifauna is a good option if you like birds, with a large collection of hornbills and neotropical rarities like night hokko and lowland cock-of-the-rock among others.

Other reccomendations depends on your preferences (mammals? birds? others?) and transportation options (rental car or public transport?). There are several (small) zoos with rare species like Virginia opossum (Texel), spotted cuscus (Ouwehands), scrub wallaby and spotted skunk (Best), lesser grison and African civet (De Paay).

 

Thanks! I will do everything by public transport (I don't drive). Nocturnal curassow is precisely the star species of Avifauna once I checked zootierliste, and both kiwi and fork-tailed woodnymph are also highlights, buff-necked ibis is not bad too. I think that if I can put another zoo in my agenda, it will be Blijdorp in Rotterdam, followed by BestZoo (overall because the dorcopsis are easy here and disappeared from Pairi Daiza that will be my next step, as I will arrive to Netherland but leave from Belgium). My preferences are more mammals and birds than other groups, but actually rare, strange and famous but obscure species in almost any animal group (except anthozoans and sponges, maybe) are my preferences. Lesser grison is tempting, but the rest of the Uilen-dierenpark collection is not an eyecatcher for me. Certainly I will skip Ouwehands, I already have a pic of taxidermy specimen spotted cuscus, and it's difficult to spot this individual in it's enclosure, the same than for malagasy giant jumping rats that are the only other species highlighted for me in this zoo. Thanks for all the recommendations!

By the way, somebody knows if the sturgeons and paddlefishes of Apenheul are good for photograph? By images seen here, looks like as if the don't have underwater view glasses, and pics can be taken only from above surface...?

 

Finally I decided the next itinerary. I think is the best combination for see rare species:

Day 19: arriral to Amsterdam at night, go from here to The Hague, sleep
Day 20: go to Arnhem, see Burgers zoo, return to The Hague
Day 21: go to Best, see BestZoo, return to The Hague
Day 22: go to Zwolle, see the bird market, return to The Hague
Day 23: go to Amsterdam, see Artis, plus the small natural history museum and botanical garden next to Artis, return to The Hague
Day 24: go to Apeldoorn, see Apenheul, return to The Hague
Day 25: go to Harderwijk, see Dolfinarium. As this is a small place with very few species I left it for the 25th, that is when I swicht to Belgium during day. Return to The Hague, say goodbye to my host, and take a train to Brussels. Sleep in Brussels.
Day 26: go to Cambron, see Pairi Daiza, return to Brussels.
Day 27: go to Antwerpen, see the zoo, return to Brussels.
Day 28: stay in Brussels, find a cybercafe, print my boarding pass, go to see natural history museum, and in the evening go to Charleroi. I will take the flight in the night (at 7:00 am of 29th) to return my home.

Any suggestions or corrections? What is the most economic and easy public transport option for a plan like that? What amount of money should I bring for transport?

If any Dutch or Belgian zoochatter want to visit a place together with me, tell me in advance. Otherwise I will do in solitary

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why on Earth this happen just one month before the year of my life that I choosed to visit Netherland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Burgers zoo was fantastic until now... now is pure rubbish deleting all the better animals that it had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why, why, why, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy????????????? This is the worst disgrace ever!!!!!!!!! I feel as if somebody stabbled my stomach with a knife. What I should do? Just avoid the visit to Burgers? This is the worst thing than a zoo make ever in my life Well I will start by writing them....

 

Hahhaha dont panic, even without the those species Burgers is still one of the best zoos in NL and in exhibition method maybe the best if you ask me.

 

I wrote to them. Please start a campaign! Anybody who cares about this nonsensic decision, write to Burgers Zoo asking and suplying to keep the ringed seals and blue duikers! They are the only large mammals of Burgers Zoo that are present in less than 5 european collections. They destroyed my life with these news! Burgers zoo is the reason of my planning to go to Netherlands this year of my life, and now it will be not anymore a zoo, if they substitute their biggest treasures by the most boring and unvaluable species ever, squirrel monkeys and coatis that one can see in EVERY zoo of Europe....

Please write to them!!!! If the pressure is enough they will reconsidere to keep their treasures!

 

I tracked carefully the species list of Burgers since months ago, and the ringed seal and blue duiker are what makes it different!!!!!!!! Of course I panic! My entire trip to Netherlands is ruined now because of such a stupid decision to substitute superexciting species by unvaluable ones!!!!!!!!

 

If a littlw deer and a seal are the only reason for a visit, then you probebly could reconsider. For me personally Burgers is amazing because of the ecodisplays, which i think is unchallenged in Europe. Two maybe rare but not very exhiting animals wont change that.

 

@Kakapo the location where the duikers and seals were kept, was the worst part of the zoo. Sure, it's a real pity those species are leaving, but truly not the highlight of Burgers. The Desert is an unique ecodisplay, with rarities like ringtail, rock squirrel, cactus mouse and Californian bighorn sheep. The Bush was the first and still one of the best rainforest halls of Europe. The Safari now includes beisa as a fairly rare species. The Rimba is quite nice. Burgers has a lot more to offer than a duiker and a rare species of seal...