Snowleopard's Dutch Sights, Belgian Delights & German Ratites

Unless I've missed something...

...this would put his trip in July I think.

~Thylo

 

I made the same mistake, sorry for that!

 

@snowleopard would have to be a real hardcore zoo enthusiasts to sleep in a car in winter

 

reopens 6th April.

 

What's so special about German ratites?

FYI, there is a wild (introduced) population of Greater Rheas in Lübeck, Germany that you can see, though I don't know if you will be anywhere near there.

 

Here is the location: Google Maps

Also: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S40231974

 

It's a little odd to me that Walsrode doesn't keep Southern and complete the trifecta.

~Thylo

 

I've had a couple of private messages already in regards to meeting people and I truly appreciate the ZooChat community as I've met at least 15-20 ZooChatters over the years via my travels through Canada and the United States. I'm not going to make any specific plans to meet anyone just yet but we'll see what happens as we approach summer. I'm definitely open to the idea of meeting up with various zoo enthusiasts but sometimes people have different approaches to touring zoos. I was once with someone in a zoo whom I'm really good friends with, but he wanted to spend an hour at a single big cat exhibit! Another friend down in Texas wasn't really into reptiles and amphibians, while I wanted to spend at least an hour inside MOLA at Fort Worth Zoo, surely a contender for the best Reptile House anywhere. So meeting people is something that I'm excited to do, but I'm also more than content to spend time alone and go at my own pace in zoos. I'm sure that at some point I'll meet up with a few zoo nerds.

I leave Vancouver International Airport on Sunday, July 14th, arrive in Amsterdam on Monday, July 15th, and then I will drive all over the Netherlands (50 zoos), Belgium (12 zoos) and western Germany (approximately 30 zoos) before leaving Amsterdam on Thursday, August 15th, arriving back in Vancouver, Canada, on the same day! The whole trip will be 32 nights, 33 full days including flights, and I'll keep my itinerary to myself but I've got 95 zoos scheduled and I doubt that I'll get to all of them. On some days I'll see one enormous zoo but on other days I've got 5 small places that can be toured in about an hour each (Sea Life Aquariums or small insect zoos for example) but depending on traffic jams I might not get to every zoo on my list. I'm not going to rush and I'm determined to take my time...although an hour inside a Sea Life is probably too long because they all look the same!

I mentioned that I purchased the tickets on Boxing Day because in North America every year, December 26th is when there are crazy deals on absolutely everything and anything you can possibly imagine. For months I was looking at flights from Vancouver to Amsterdam that were all in the range of $1,300 Canadian, but on Boxing Day I booked my flights for only $800 Canadian. I'll have quick stopovers in Toronto on the way to Europe, as well as on the return flight, but $800 is a sweet deal. As you can all see, I already typed up my costs associated with the trip and renting a car and paying for fuel and parking is all expensive...but it allows me to go wherever I want, whenever I want, and there is also the option of sleeping in the darn thing. My wife dislikes me sleeping in a vehicle, many of you think that it is bonkers, but I'm already paying $7,500 CAD for this trip and sleeping in a rental car is one way that I can literally save a couple of thousand dollars or else the trip would be $10,000 CAD. I'm sure that I'll get a cheap motel on a few nights just so I can remember what a mattress looks like!

Lastly, I never tour large numbers of zoos at any other time but July and August. My wife and I are both schoolteachers and in Canada all schools shut down for 9 weeks each summer and that is why there are Snowleopard Road Trip threads on ZooChat in the years 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. I'll have this huge European trip in the summer of 2019 and then in 2020 I'm positive I'll have to save my money for the next one in 2021. I usually go a whole year with only a couple of visits to Vancouver Aquarium and Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo...then I see a ton of zoos in a single summer.

 

This I'll be keeping in mind moving forward!

~Thylo

 

Any chance of seeing rheas?

 

In a zoo...yes! In the wild...nope!

 

Walsrode already has so much, they can't keep every bird in the world. Especially when it comes to large species...

Anyways, as far as ratites go, I think Snowleopard will have to do with captive ones, as I doubt he would have time for birding trips on one of his massive zoo road trips with their packed schedules. Also, I believe Lübeck is quite a ways out of Snowleopard's general direction of travel, as in, like 7 hours of driving from the Walsrode area.

Also, concerning Walsrode: the park was recently acquired by a Spanish company that also owns several (non-animal) theme parks so it remains to be seen what that will mean for the park and its rich bird collection. Hopefully Snowleopard will still be able to see the park at the highest level of diversity.

In any case he won't be seeing any greater flamingos, as by the time of his visit they should have been moved to GaiaZoo in Kerkrade, the Netherlands (all 400 or so of them).

@snowleopard

First of all thank you for the two big updates on your journey.

Also, I agree with your choice of zoos that deserve a whole day to visit and explore. I would say those zoos certainly deserve your time as they are some of the top facilities you can find in Western Europe.

The Artis membership would actually offer you not just a discount for Antwerpen and Zoo Planckendael, but actually would allow you free entry, I have read at this page:
Ledenvoordelen en prijzen

I don't have that much else to add to be honest, only a few little things.

First of all I'm still very much willing to meet you and join your for your a part or the entirety of your visits to my two local zoos, Zoo Antwerpen and Zoo Planckendael, as I would be very interested in hearing what someone who has seen so many (American) zoos would think about them. I'm sure we can make the appropriate arrangements when we get closer to the summer.

I would even be willing to (help) cover some of your costs like food and/or souvenirs when you visit, it is the least I could do for someone who has provided so much to this site.

As far as approaches to visiting zoos go, I'm not someone who likes to storm through a zoo and just view everything as quickly as possible, so we might clash somewhat in that area, but I also do not generally spend great amounts of time viewing a single exhibit or species. I like to see as much of a zoo and as many species as possible but also to see things well, and to make plenty of photos. I guess I'm the most likely to get carried away when taking photographs or when viewing birds or rare(r) species.

Regarding sleeping in your rental car in truck stops et cetera: there have been safety issues here in Belgium, mostly with truck stops next to or near the highways, especially those that run towards the coast and towards France, concerning illegal migrants trying to get to Great Britain. Some of those stops/parkings have actually been closed or are closed at night for safety reasons. So do keep in mind the aspect of your safety when doing these kinds of things, please.

Concerning fuel costs, it could help you save some if you don't just wait till you need to to fuel up and watch which gas stations or chains of gas stations offer lower prices. Yes, they won't be lower by much, but given how much fuel you'll be burning during this trip, it could be useful to watch for differences in price.

Lastly if you have any questions regarding Antwerpen, Planckendael or other Belgian or even Dutch zoos, or with regards to Belgium in general, please do not hesitate to ask or to contact me and I'll try and do my best to provide you with an answer. I know I have kind of ground to halt with posting photos lately due to lack of time and mostly energy, but I'll still around if you need any information.

 

Well of course, it just seems like the full set of cassowaries and large ratites in general would be right up their alley is all.

~Thylo

 

I've done it! Slept in my little European car in the Netherlands in early December. About froze my tootsies off!

 

I saw the video: pobble that has no toes youtube video - Yahoo Video Search Results

 

That's like 5th or 6th owner in a short amount of time right? Or at least from what I heard.