Off to the zoo
Tuesday, cy-v went to the animal zoo in the town of Emmen as we received vouchers for free entry to a select number of zoos in the country. It was a close call between the highly rated 'traditional' zoo in Emmen, and the safari park "Beekse Bergen", but in the end we preferred Emmen as it has a butterfly garden.
Before leaving home, we had already been delayed as we were completely out of cat food. Luckily though, I had picked up my bike the night before, so I could take the bike and go to a supermarket which is a little far away to walk there, but opens up an hour before the other supermarkets. It's a 5-minute bike ride there, and the supermarket opens at 7, and we wanted to catch the 0724 train. Once at the supermarket, the bastards opened five minutes late, and another five minutes later I was making my way back home, feeding the cats and back on my bike towards the station, where Samantha would be awaiting me (she walked there as I made my way to the supermarket.) In the end I had five minutes left before the train would leave when I was at the train station.
Failure of the signals: stranded in Coevorden as all signals show a red light.
The train ride went smoothly until we reached Coevorden, which is only 10 minutes away from our destination, Emmen. Our train exceptionally ended here, as there was a failure in the safety system of the track due to a lightning strike earlier. We had to get out and wait for the next train, over half an hour later. When it finally arrived, it made its way to Emmen very slowly, sounding horns and coming to a full stop before every road crossing. In the end we arrived at Emmen with a delay of some 50 minutes. We still had the whole day ahead of us though, and couldn't really be bothered by it. We walked towards the zoo and then the fun began.
Dinosaurs
Big fish
Little fish
Elephants
Baboons
Ring-tailed lemurs
People (and a bear)
Bambi (commonly known as impalas)
Prairie dogs
Moose
Sea-lions
Parrots
The jungle
Squirrel monkeys
Goats (the two little ones were actually born the day we visited)
Meerkats
Giraffes
Kangaroos
Tigers
A panther passing by right along the windows
And finally, butterflies!
This one had bright blue wings on the inside, when the sun was reflected by it
We've actually been 'round the zoo twice. On our first round we weren't quite so lucky: it was rather crowded with school groups and the mentally challenged (respect for those few young girls who took them around the zoo - I wouldn't be able to do that for a full day) and most of the animals were indoors, not visible for visitors, probably partly because of the crowds and partly due to the rain. The last two hours in the park, we went around again, hoping to see the animals we had missed out on the first time and we were very, very lucky. The giraffes were on petting distance, the panther was clearly visible and even walked past right beside us, with only a centimeter of glass between us, the tigers were outside and walking around and a few butterflies we hadn't seen on our first go, were now fluttering around and we saw everything from a butterfly hatching, to a caterpillar, a cocoon and butterflies mating (do they do that, or do they just like to sit on top of each other, twirling around each other as they go?)
When we left the zoo just before it closed, we had dinner in a nearby restaurant in the city centre of Emmen, where we had a deliciously baked piece of brie with crushed nuts on the sides, making it crunchy. The service was marvelous (thoughtful and quick). The train ride back went quite smoothy, but by the time we got home around midnight, we were both broken and tired...
Before leaving home, we had already been delayed as we were completely out of cat food. Luckily though, I had picked up my bike the night before, so I could take the bike and go to a supermarket which is a little far away to walk there, but opens up an hour before the other supermarkets. It's a 5-minute bike ride there, and the supermarket opens at 7, and we wanted to catch the 0724 train. Once at the supermarket, the bastards opened five minutes late, and another five minutes later I was making my way back home, feeding the cats and back on my bike towards the station, where Samantha would be awaiting me (she walked there as I made my way to the supermarket.) In the end I had five minutes left before the train would leave when I was at the train station.
Failure of the signals: stranded in Coevorden as all signals show a red light.
The train ride went smoothly until we reached Coevorden, which is only 10 minutes away from our destination, Emmen. Our train exceptionally ended here, as there was a failure in the safety system of the track due to a lightning strike earlier. We had to get out and wait for the next train, over half an hour later. When it finally arrived, it made its way to Emmen very slowly, sounding horns and coming to a full stop before every road crossing. In the end we arrived at Emmen with a delay of some 50 minutes. We still had the whole day ahead of us though, and couldn't really be bothered by it. We walked towards the zoo and then the fun began.
Dinosaurs
Big fish
Little fish
Elephants
Baboons
Ring-tailed lemurs
People (and a bear)
Bambi (commonly known as impalas)
Prairie dogs
Moose
Sea-lions
Parrots
The jungle
Squirrel monkeys
Goats (the two little ones were actually born the day we visited)
Meerkats
Giraffes
Kangaroos
Tigers
A panther passing by right along the windows
And finally, butterflies!
This one had bright blue wings on the inside, when the sun was reflected by it
We've actually been 'round the zoo twice. On our first round we weren't quite so lucky: it was rather crowded with school groups and the mentally challenged (respect for those few young girls who took them around the zoo - I wouldn't be able to do that for a full day) and most of the animals were indoors, not visible for visitors, probably partly because of the crowds and partly due to the rain. The last two hours in the park, we went around again, hoping to see the animals we had missed out on the first time and we were very, very lucky. The giraffes were on petting distance, the panther was clearly visible and even walked past right beside us, with only a centimeter of glass between us, the tigers were outside and walking around and a few butterflies we hadn't seen on our first go, were now fluttering around and we saw everything from a butterfly hatching, to a caterpillar, a cocoon and butterflies mating (do they do that, or do they just like to sit on top of each other, twirling around each other as they go?)
When we left the zoo just before it closed, we had dinner in a nearby restaurant in the city centre of Emmen, where we had a deliciously baked piece of brie with crushed nuts on the sides, making it crunchy. The service was marvelous (thoughtful and quick). The train ride back went quite smoothy, but by the time we got home around midnight, we were both broken and tired...