I love acting, but it's much more fun taking the kids to the zoo.
Nicole Kidman
Katy, Norah and I made the excellent decision to go visit the zoo last Friday! Unfortunately I wasn't dressed as Mr. Catwoman Dr., the superhero alter-ego that Ben made up for me that likes to visit zoos in safari gear. I had to settle for jeans and a t-shirt, but at least the weather was beautiful and the animals were lively!
I don't know what they do to the animals at the Dublin zoo, but they are all about human interaction...maybe they're actually workers dressed in gorilla costumes? Also there was virtually no one there, unlike at the Cleveland zoo where I'm usually fighting a toddler rather than a wallaby to get through the walkabout.
We took the bus to Phoenix Park (the biggest city park in Europe), saw the President's house and the "wild deer." I'm not sure where the deer originally hail from but there are about 500 of them that have free range of the park, and they are quite different than the type you'll find in the Ravenna arsenal. I saw a woman literally pet one. I feel like that might be a health risk?
Once we got into the actual zoo all the animals, except a few rogue peacocks, were safely out of petting range.
Tiger! Later it came right up to the glass and had a moment with Norah, but I'm not a good quick draw with my camera. Still, this is pretty active for a big cat!
Orangutan buddy! Seriously, we stood with this guy for about 20 minutes. First he was shaking the milk out of the bottle onto his hand, then he used his finger to scrape out more, and when that wasn't successful he used carrots and sticks to get the remainder. Too smart? His eyes were very human like, and he kept giving us semi-mocking expressions. When we would laugh he would do whatever he did again, he was either mocking us or trying to impress us. At one point he watched Norah cross her arms and copied, safe to say that was definitely mocking.
Silver back gorilla! He had a posse of young male gorillas that followed him around the enclosure. He stood up and they followed, staying behind him when he sat down. He was a bit terrifying when he stood up, massive and so powerful.
Katy in front of the seals!
These guys are true entertainers.
There's a lot of limitations at this zoo.
Warthogs, not the most attractive creatures, even with little Mohawks.
White rhinos!
Zebra! Another really social guy, the zoo keepers were cleaning their outdoor area, so the safari animals were taking a break indoors.
A very sleepy red panda!
Monkeys! Not sure what kind exactly, but they had a baby and they were picking bugs out of each other's fur.
Ok, these little babies weren't at the zoo, they were at Herbert Park yesterday. Herbert Park is further into D4 and I actually just went there for the first time. Such a peacful place, very special. It was 75 degrees, so I took a towel and my ereader and just relaxed for a couple hours.
Another nice day today, it almost doesn't feel like Ireland!
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