A DAY AT THE ZOO WITH MY GRANDSON

Posted on September 27, 2014 by gwenniesworld

Last week I went to the zoo in Antwerp with my 3 year old grandson. The zoo opened it’s doors in 1843, it is in the city center of Antwerp next to the train station so we went by train. It is a small zoo as it is in the city center but a little gem with lots of flowers and century old tree’s, if I would live in Antwerp I think I would go every day. One of my favorite animals here are the gorilla’s , I LOVE gorilla’s !!! As it was during the week and on a schoolday there were not so many visitors so we could go and do what we wanted in piece.

BABOON

SMALL ANT EATER

MONKEYS, I COULD WATCH THEM ALL DAY

OKAPI, APPARENTLY THERE ARE MORE OKAPI’S LIVING IN ZOO’S THEN IN THE WILD

ONE OF THE VERY OLD TREE’S, BEFORE IT WAS A ZOO THIS WAS A PARK WITH VERY OLD TREE’S

THERE ARE ANIMAL STATUES ALL OVER THE GARDEN OF ANIMALS WHO ONCE LIVED HERE BUT DIED

MOST PEOPLE WHO VISIT THE ZOO GO SIT ON THIS GORILLA TO HAVE THEIR PICTURE TAKEN, UNFORTUNATELY MY GRANDSON WAS AFRAID OF THIS BIG MONKEY….

HERE’S A REAL GORILLA, ISN’T HE BEAUTIFUL !!???

CHIMPS

BLACKFEET PENGUINS

PELIKANS

HERE IS MY GRANDSON LOOKING FOR NEMO, THIS WAS THE BEST PART FOR HIM, HE WOULDN’T LEAVE THIS AQUARIUM, HE WAS SO PLEASED TO SEE NEMO AND HIS FRIENDS IN REAL LIFE, HE DIDN’ T UNDERSTAND WHY NEMO’S SHARK FRIEND WAS NOT IN THERE WITH THE OTHERS…..

THIS WAS TAKEN INSIDE THE TRAINSTATION OF ANTWERP

As you can imagine we both had a lovely day.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend all !

A DAY OUT

Posted on August 28, 2014 by gwenniesworld

As it is the last week of the school holidays we wanted to do something with the kids so me, my sis and my daughter-in-law went to a zoo with the kids. It was such a lovely day, we have had so much bad weather for weeks on end and yesterday was sunny and warm so it couldn’t be better.

WATERCHICK BABIES WERE RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE, THEY WEREN’T SCARED AT ALL

GIBBONS, ALWAYS GOOD FOR A LAUGH

A SEAT IN THE TROPICAL GREENHOUSE

MRS LION

MR LION, ALWAYS IMPRESSIVE

A HAPPY PIG, PLAYING IN THE MUD AND THERE WAS PLENTY OF IT !!

TROPICAL PLANTS AND TREES EVERYWHERE AND THEY WERE ALL LUSH AND GREEN

ALL THE ANIMALS HAD QUITE BIG SPACES WITH BUSHES AND TREES , USUALLY WITH OTHER ANIMALS, I KNOW ZOOS ARE NOT IDEAL FOR ANIMALS BUT OVER HERE THEY ARE LOOKED AFTER VERY WELL, THEY KEEP THEM BUSY AS THEY HAVE TO SURCH FOR THEIR FOOD AND THEY DO EVERYTHING TO KEEP THEM HAPPY AND HEALTHY

A FOXY LADY

THEY EVEN HAD A CROC IN THE WATER WHO WAS SOAKING UP THE SUN

THERE WERE ABOUT 10 GIRAFFES

AND A FAKE HYPPO !

AN ANT EATER, FUNNY CREATURE !

THE KANGAROOS WERE SOAKING UP THE SUN AS WELL

THIS IS A CASUARIS, A RELATIVE OF THE EMU AND THE OSTRICH

PREZWALSKI HORSES

A VICUNA CALF

AND A BEAUTIFUL CRANE

We all enjoyed our day very much especially the kids (between 1.5 years old and 8 years old), alas the weather has changed back to cold and rainy…..

Take care ! and thanks for visiting.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Posted on February 19, 2014 by gwenniesworld

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

LA DOUCE FRANCE : LAST DAY

Posted on October 19, 2013 by gwenniesworld

All too soon we had one last day to fill before we had to go back home. We looked for a zoo in the area of La Garde-Freinet where we stayed in a beautiful B&B called le Mouron Rouge, and we found one a few kilometers further, it was a little gem !

It was a small zoo and all we knew was that it was called “exotic zoo”, and it was exotic ! Most of the animals there were exotic birds but there were monkeys and kangaroo’s, goats and deer as well BUT what made it so special for me was that the planting there consisted of bamboo, cacti and succulents !!! My favorites !!! The sun was shining, there were only a few people there and we enjoyed every minute of it. We fought for the camera as my hub wanted to take a picture of all the birds !!! and I wanted a picture of all the cacti and succulents ! We definitely need another good camera !

Here are some of the pictures we took.

THESE STATUES ARE MADE OF SPECIAL WOOD BY SOME AUSTRALIAN TRIBE WHO LIVE ON A SMALL AUTRALIAN ISLAND, THEY HAD QUITE A FEW OF THEM

A BALI SPARROW, THERE ARE MORE OF THEM IN CAPTIVITY THAN THERE ARE IN THE WILD AS THEY LIVE ONLY IN BALI IN THE WILD

THERE WERE LOTS AND LOTS OF HORNBILL BIRDS

THESE LITTLE GUYS WERE ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE !!!!!

THE CAGES WERE BIG AND CLEAN BUT I AM NOT A FAN OF CAGED ANIMALS ALAS NOT EVERY ONE HAS THE MONEY TO GO AND SEE ANIMALS IN THE WILD SO FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES IF THEY ARE WELL KEPT AND IN LARGE CAGES…..

I THOUGHT THIS SMALL REE HAD BEAUTIFUL FOLIAGE, A GUM TREE MAYBE , IT DIDN’T HAVE A NAME TAG

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO UNDERSTAND FRENCH :THIS WAS A FUNNY SIGN

BEAUTIFUL YELLOW BAMBOO STEMS

A BEAUTIFUL PHEASANT

LOVELY SILVER GREY FOLIAGE

BATHING IN THE SUN

AND THIS IS THE MOTHER OF SOME OF MY FUTURE OPUNTIA’S, THERE WERE A LOT OF FRUITS ON THE GROUND SO I TOOK ONE AND THE SEEDS ARE NOW DRYING AND WILL BE SOWN IN SPRING