London Zoo

London Zoo, famous, fabulous and right in the heart of Regent's Park and I had not visited it since I was a child. That all changed on Saturday with a sunny afternoon and a London Pass which still had one day of free entry to be used up. Off I went with my camera and my equally photography mad son to snap some animal antics. First stop was the Gorilla house were an enormous male gorilla sat amongst his ropes and swings. He wasn`t fazed by the gathering crowds, looking at us instead with an air of contempt, `be off and let me chill` would have been a suitable comment from him. Next came Tiger Territory and up on a platform in the trees lay a beautiful female tiger and her three large nine month old cubs. It was a real honor to see them and the great male tiger taking a cool dip in the water. I have always loved giraffes and the three beauties at the zoo did not disappoint, the ran around and played to the delight of everyone watching them. Pelicans and flamingos fished for their dinner as a cheeky heron tried to steal the fish meant for the small penguins. The tiny monkeys in the rain forest settings carried babies on their backs, while ant eaters foraged on the ground. The lions decided it was to hot to be bothered with visitors and stayed sleeping in their dens, while hippos took the same option. I missed out the bug house and the reptile house as there was so much outside to see. There are plenty of stalls selling cold drinks and ice cream, a decent self service restaurant and enough toilet facilities but it is a busy place. The queues were very long for people who had not pre-booked their tickets so if you are going do get your tickets online first. We were able to go straight in with a London pass. The zoo is open until 6 pm during the summer and there is some pay and display parking outside. If you are walking from the nearest tube station it is a good 20 minutes walk to the zoo entrance. We spent four hours at the zoo and that was barely long enough to see it all.