On Penguin Beach

I think I forgot to post about what we did after the Olympic Archery. Following a morning of arrows, we wondered at first what we might do in London near Lords.

And then it seemed obvious; we went to London Zoo in Regent's Park.

The Zoo is much smaller than Berlin Zoo, and I hadn't been there for years.  There have been a lot of changes and work is still continuing - but I must admit I was impressed.

An area near the old Mappin Terraces is being redeveloped and I suspect the chap above was in temporary accommodation, but he didn't seem to mind!

This dragon later had a bit part in Skyfall, I understand. 

It was something of a whistlestop tour...

... but I did stop and stand and stare for many minutes at these two aardvarks (shot without flash through thick glass).

And then, as you do, we went looking for the penguins.  But the iconic pool was empty.

So where were they - had they been shipped off to Whipsnade to join the elephants and many of the big cats?

No, they had a new and super home - Penguin Beach.

It is a huge new open air space, much bigger than the old pool (which all of a sudden seemed astonishingly cramped and brutal).  There are several viewing points, including a glass wall (rather like the hippo wall in Berlin, only cleaner), through which and over which the birds could be seen in astonishing closeup.  The water laps up to the edge, and the penguins swim over to say hello...

For a little extra, children (and adults) can go onto the beach and feed individual penguins by hand.

Or you can just stand and watch them swim, swim by.

A real improvement to the Zoo, and worth the admission price on its own.

I got so excited about Penguin Beach that I thought I would post something about it straight away.  But as I said at the start, I forgot (blame the Olympics). 

And it is now nearly Christmas, so I guess I'd better finish with a more seasonal beast.