animal portraits

I am writing this propped up in my fancy AirBnB bed. It is so hight that Alistair can't get into it without help. I am feeling like the Queen (not sure if her bones are as achy as mine).

We went to the zoo yesterday. I like London zoo, it is a great place to learn about conservation efforts and animal behaviour. If you are so inclined of course, it is perfectly acceptable to just enjoy the animals. There is always a creature or two that are new to me. I love the bug's house with it's spiders and cockroaches and locusts. I really like those areas where you can walk through, the butterfly sanctuary and the bird house. I spotted a butterfly with see through wings. Amazing. There were moth bigger than my hands. The birds had colours that are impossible to describe. 

I also like the children's section. The animals are friendly and the kids are allowed to touch them if they want. The pigs were particularly vocal yesterday, the were oinking away happily and came to say hello. Maybe they were slagging us off, it is hard to tell as I am not Dr Dolittle, my fluency in pig is not all that great.

Great apes in the zoo make me uncomfortable, gorillas more than the others. I looked into a gorillas eyes yesterday and it was like I was seeing a friend. There is not much between them and us. I didn't take a photo, it felt like I was intruding but I did take a photo of his photo. 

There were sheep and alpacas and camels. I looked at them and thought of yarn. The camels always look a bit grumpy, the alpacas aloof.

The Victorian installation outside the bird house was great. The Victorians were a bit mad I think. It was a clock automaton. Metal birds were appearing and disappearing, flying onto the roof and around the clock. Great engineering. 

We walked around the African savannah. Giraffes are just weird, like from outer space with their little horns and bendy legs. I am sure one of the Star Wars creatures was modelled on a giraffe. 

There is a lemur walk through which was enjoyable. The lemurs are very tame and it was possible to get a really good look at them. They had their dinner when we were walking through. It looked so delicious I remembered that I had skipped lunch.... we were all hungry by then but there was still the night exhibition with its bats and big eyed bush babies and the aquarium to visit... 

We finished the day with a nice Thai meal in our neighbourhood. It was fun to watch James eat stuff that he wouldn't normally because he didn't know what they were. Liking it, too. Bed time was soon after we got back to our three story house. Today, we might go to the Science Museum, or to the Victoria and Albert Museum, although the latter is maybe not so much fun for the little ones. Have a lovely day my friends! xx