I know, I know.. I’ve been horrendous at updating. I still have so much to talk about my trip earlier this year, as well as some of the things I’ve been involved with this year! But before I start the madness that was my trip to Istanbul, I wanted to talk a little bit about zoos and why they are important to me (hence the fact that I make it a point to visit the zoo in every city I manage to— except third world countries because those just make me cry).

<–PS: King Crab says “GET IN MAH BELLEH!”
During my Europe adventure I went to two zoos. That’s pretty pathetic in my book, but I tried to make up for it by going to the Stuttgart zoo at least once a month when I was there. It was definitely one of the nicest zoos I’ve seen— Southern Germany lays such importance on horticulture, not just at the zoo but everywhere, that when spring hits you’re bombarded by pure colour and enough flowers to kill someone with moderate allergies. That, along with the beautiful, clean, and spacious enclosures for each animal made it extremely peaceful and a beautiful place to go. They also had bugs and fish and lots of other fun things!

First you walk through this long greenhouse-type building that is filled with tonnes of plants, each section being from another part of the world. After that you come to small mammals and rodentia as well as small birds and things like that. once you get out of that there are a slew of buildings to check out, including an aquarium with the biggest crab you’ll ever see (see above), an insect zoo, monkey house, ape house… very fun.

Hopping along to each of the buildings is also pleasant because there are so many well placed horticultural designs that lead you uphill to the many outdoor enclosures. Probably one of the most interesting things that I came across was the trend in Arabesque architecture around the park. I kept trying to figure out if those buildings were already there when the zoo took over the property and they just decided to keep it because the buildings were beautiful, or if there’s another reason why there were Koranic passages in Arabic inscribed in parts of the buildings. In any case, they were gorgeous and I loved it!!

In Köln, the zoo was equally as fun to check out, and we managed to arrive at the llama pen just in time to witness a birth from start to finish! In total it took 30 minutes for a baby llama to poke its nose out of its mom, then feet, then body, then plop on the floor, then stand up and walk! It was pretty incredible… That’s when I noticed another cultural difference between North America and Germany (or probably just the rest of the world). Very few people in North America would take the miracle happening in front of them as a great educational opportunity for their kids and instead would cover their children’s eyes and walk away. Or be embarrassed… or something along those lines. When we were sitting there watching the first breaths of this little llama I kept hearing parents talk around me, saying things like “Ohh! Er ist frisch geboren!” (“Ooh! Freshly born!”) They would sit there and watch the event with their kids, big and small. I know there are people in the states that would do that, too, but you can take it from me as someone who has worked at a zoo for 8 years— most parents cower away and aren’t really sure what to do. But that’s a whole other rant…

Anyway, the Köln Zoo was very nice. Not as nice as the Wilhelmna (Stuttgart) Zoo, in my opinion, but they did have an EXTREMELY nice lizard section which is definitely worth noting!

I shall leave you with a particularly beautiful hornbill and a spoiled mountain goat:

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