Finding a day in the London Zoo

I’m on holiday this week! My original plan was a trip abroad, but since the flight tickets are so expensive at the moment, I thought it would be best to stay in London. To make the best of my holiday, I wanted to do something which is fun and educational.  So I decided the best place to start would be the London ZSL Zoo.

The ZSL Zoo is the world’s oldest scientific zoo and one of Britain’s top attractions. It’s founded over 180 years ago and hosts a large collection of animals, making it a fantastic place to learn about wild life.

Hidden in the heart of London, the zoo is embedded in the beautiful Regent’s Park. The quickest and nicest way to the zoo is to walk through the Regent’s Park, which I found to be a serene experience. There is also a nice little café just outside of the zoo where you can stop for a snack before embarking on the adventure ahead.

At Regent Park in: Diesel tank top, Diesel skirt, Oasis orange cardigan, Swedish Hasbeens sandals and LV bag.

Inside the zoo I was astonished by the size. The overall space is 15 ha, it would roughly take me 30 minutes to walk around the whole site without stopping! With a hefty entry ticket price at £22.50 for adult and £16.65 for children, I would advise arriving early in the morning to allow enough time to see all the animals and make the most of your experience. The opening hours are between 10am-6pm in summer and 10am-5pm in winter.

The Zoo was divided up into many different areas according to the type of species and their living habits, which makes it very easy to navigate around. Main areas are: Gorilla Kingdom, Butterfly Paradise, Lions and Tigers, Aquarium, Penguin Beach, Bird Safari and Into Africa.

I thought that I would share some of the highlights from my trip with you below 🙂

My first stop was to see the monkeys.

These Eastern Black-and-White Colobus are gorgeous. They are mainly found within the forest of Equatorial Africa. They have beautiful long black and white furs, which makes them often hunted by humans for their skins. What’s fascinating about these monkeys is that babies are pure white for the first few weeks of life.

I also love these White-napped Mangabey.

This type of monkey lives in the Sub-Saharan Western Africa. They are quiet interesting to watch as they communicate by shrieks, whoops, chuckles and grunts, as well as flashing their white eyelids with other facial gestures.

My second stop was the Tiger Territory.

I arrived too late to see the tigers and consequently they are all sleeping. Nevertheless, I did manage to catch a glimpse of this magnificent Sumatran Tiger. Sumatran Tigers are actually one of the smallest types of tigers but to me it’s still huge. The Sumatran Tigers are meat eaters and their diet consists of deer, wild pigs, monkeys, birds and tapir. They are critically endangered due to habitat destruction for oil palm, acacia plantations and illegal hunting.

My next stop was to see the reptiles.

I was attracted by a komodo dragon called Raja. Komodo Dragons are the world’s largest lizards, growing up to 3m long and weighing more than a fully-grown man. Their fearsome reputation and toxic bite make them the top predators in their island home. Raja in particular had appeared in the Bond film Skyfall.

Then I stopped by the green tree monitors as I was drawn to its vibrant sparkling emerald colour. These beautiful creatures live on trees and rarely walks on solid ground. They are born with tiny rubbery scales on the sole of its feet and have long, monkey-like prehensile tail to help it balance. Green Tree Monitor lives in Indonesia and New Guinea.

After the reptiles, my next stop was the Penguin Beach.

The Penguin Beach is a large artificial beach made for penguins surrounding a large pool. There are heaps of different types of penguins swimming, playing and sunbathing here; it’s very interesting to watch. At 1.30pm daily, Penguin Beach hosts a live presentation where you can watch penguins feed, dive, jump and swim through with guided presenters. If you are thinking of visiting, I would recommend aim to arrive at this area for 1.30 pm, in time for the presentation.

Next to the Penguin Beach I found a large lake filled with exotic birds.

I stopped to watch these beautiful pink flamingos dance in the pond. These beautiful birds live in the shallow lakes, coastal lagoons of Southern Europe, Central Asia, North West India and Southern Africa. They get their beautiful pink colour from the small animals that they eat.

My final stop was Into Africa.

Here I saw the amazing giraffes! It was my first time seeing a giraffe in person and I couldn’t believe the size of it. It’s roughly as tall as four men put together; simply the tallest creature I’ve ever seen. You can feed the giraffes at ZSL Zoo for a fee of £45 – £60 at lunch time. However it’s not really worth it as it’s just exciting watching them from afar.

I really enjoyed my experience at the ZSL London Zoo. I feel that it’s a great place for a date or family outing. The zoo is very large, so arrive at the site early to make the most of your visiting experience. I would also advise bringing a packed lunch as the café inside are quite pricey and average. You can find many outdoor seating areas to have a lovely picnic!

Thank you for reading and feel free to share your thoughts with me. X