Edinburgh Zoo

Hi all

I'm SO sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. I haven't found anything exciting to write about. Until now that is.

My church, Fraserburgh Baptist organised a trip to Edinburgh Zoo. It had been a year in the making and now on the 8th of June 2013 it was finally here. The alarm on my phone went off at 5.30am (which should be illegal on a Saturday!), but I didn't seem to mind as I was filled with excitement about going to the zoo. My parents got up roughly the same time as I did, so once we were showered and dressed we spent about half an hour making sandwiches and finishing preparing packed lunches. Although it was a gloomy morning I had my shorts on, as the forecast was set to pick up later in the day. When we arrived at the church, there were only a handful of us wearing shorts, but at least I wasn't the only one. I would have felt pretty stupid if I was. After almost being knocked out by my friend Tony's camera tripod we boarded the bus.  Me and some of my friends from Youth Fellowship headed to the back of the bus (well that is where the most fun is had, right?)

At 7.10am we headed off into the great unknown (well Edinburgh, but I like to think it was an adventure, okay?) and most of the journey was spent listening to music, chattering away to Andrew, Rebekah and Kellsey and just generally getting excited about seeing all the animals in the zoo. Normally it takes an hour to get from Fraserburgh to Aberdeen, however we were there in about 45 minutes and we picked up a wayfaring stranger (Edward, Andrew's friend from uni). The bus was now complete and drove on to Dundee, where we were desperate to get out breakfast.

Around 9.30am the bus arrived at Dundee Camperdown Park. McDonald's and KFC must not have known what hit them as fifty of us descended upon them for breakfast. I ordered blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, which was accompanied with a side order of bacon and eggs. The bacon and eggs were not so great, but the pancakes were delicious! Fifty satisfied tummies later and we were back on the bus for the last hour of our journey to Edinburgh Zoo.

We arrived at the zoo about 11.10am and all gathered in the main reception area. Once we were given maps of the park we were free to roam about and discover the zoo to our hearts content. We saw monkeys energetically swinging from vine to vine, hippopotamuses lazily basking in the sun and chimpanzees munching on fruit.

At 1pm, our group was booked in to see the two giant pandas Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine). After the zoo employees worked out there was fifty of us, they decided to have us all in one big group.

Now pandas are notoriously known for sleeping 16 hours a day, so it's no wonder people who have visited the zoo complained about not seeing them! However this day was going to be a little different. Despite being a very hot day for Scotland, Tian Tian emerged from her usual slumber and walked around her enclosure much to our delight. She clambered over the rocks, came back down and walked against the glass window, with many delighted viewers happily snapping away on their cameras of this energetic panda. Tian Tian had then decided she had enough and without hesitation climbed up a tree and slumped down on the branch, where she had decided that was probably her exercise for the day. We were all so thrilled that we got to see at least one panda awake (Yang Guang wasn't one for getting out of bed!).

Every day at 2.15pm there is a penguin parade called Penguins Rock! The penguin parade is voluntarily, so once the zoo keepers open the gates it's up to the penguins if they want to come out or not. Fortunately, on this day the penguins did want to come out so there were about 15 penguins waddling around a short distance of the park. It was very entertaining and hilarious to see. Once the penguin parade was over, it was time to see more animals - this time the King of the Forest, the Lion and also various different leopards and tigers from different countries. We also saw zebras and a horn bill bird from South Africa (which was part of the Animal Antics show). During the Animal Antics show it was very, very hot and I was sitting wishing I had brought a hat, as the sun was beating down on my head. However, it only lasted for about 15 minutes and soon were on our way again to see more animals.

Our tour of the zoo ended by seeing pelicans, ostriches and many different kinds of birds. At 5pm we all met at the gift shop where we purchased some zoo merchandise before heading off on the bus. Our day ended by getting a McDonald's and KFC for dinner and then coming back to Fraserburgh at 10pm. Despite our tiredness, we had a great day and cannot wait for the
trip to the safari park next year.

Tian Tian

Penguins on parade

Zebras