Zoo - my day out in Zurich!

Zoo - in Vietnamese, we call "Thảo Cầm Viên", or just simply "Sở Thú". Everyone surely has some unforgettable memories with Zoo, especially in the childhood. I, myself, have a lot of with Zoo! My mom used to take her students to our hundred-year-old Zoo in Saigon, and I was always one of them.
Those sweet memories when I, being a Boy Scout, performed a dance "Sur le pont d'Avignon" in celebration of some event of the Boy Scout Association, right in the Zoo! Or when I stupidly stepped into a garden pond fully covered with tiny water lettuces, I simply confused it with the grass! Today our Zoo sadly no longer as the one as I remember in its glorious years.

                     Many birds enjoy the freedom in the nature, friendly with visitors  


I arrived to Zurich on Saturday, wandering around the centre, along the Limmat, the river. Everywhere - restaurants, coffee shops, shops along the bank of the river, full of big crowds, but Sunday morning everything became so quiet. None of shops was open, even a small supermarket in the corner, near to my hotel, also closed. No souls on the street! I totally forgot it was Sunday and wondering how to spend a whole Sunday here? I decided to go to the Zoo! Back to my childhood!

                      Zurich along the Limmat river 

                            Quiet Sunday morning in Zurich - right in the centre 

Got a daily bus ticket and heading to the Zoo, which located at the other end of the city. It took me around 20-30' ride in the bus. When arriving to the final station, I still need to walk another 10-15' to the Zoo. The entrance, the ticket office, no long lines, probably still early morning, the ticket quite expensive - 26 Swiss Franc (equally 27 USD), I paid my ticket - half in Euro, half in Swiss Franc, as I forgot to exchange!

                    One of the first animals welcome visitors was this beautiful peacock  

           
Here are some photos that I took in the Zoo. It's a huge park, besides those typical animals that most Zoo should have like lions, tigers, camels... Zurich Zoo still has with an indoor tropical garden, Masoala rainforest, this small tropical world representing a little oasis of Madagascar, where most animals are freely moving around.

And very large Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park with an amazing roof (!). It could be a gift from the King of Thailand as he used to study in Switzerland. This Park, besides the Asiatic elephants, still a very good place to promote Thai culture and tourism, as I met Thai people in their traditional clothes promoting some Thai cuisine. I don't why I didn't take any photos of this beautiful park, especially the roof - look amazing from far!

           

What I like the most in this park was the zoo has been built in the way that make you feel like in the nature, not too much human involvement, except some buildings where they have to keep the exotic specimens, dangerous wild animals...

Zoo still have some part where the family with kids can spend time together by playing some games. To be honest, it's quite simple and not very attractive to me. But to kids, a day out, obviously a real big fun!

The below photos were taken in Masoala Rainforest Hall, when I got in, I immediately felt the typical humidity in the tropical area, this small world representing a little oasis of Madagascar, most of animals here are freely moving around. I regret that I didn't go up to the treetop walkway to have a view from the top in this tropical hall. It was quite humid and pretty hot going up there!  

Later in the day when more crowds, some staffs standing in the Hall, showing certain animals to kids, with explanations. It should be a very good experience for kids to discover the wild world. I was leaving the Zoo in the afternoon, tiring due to carrying the heavy camera bag, long walking in the park. My most favourite time was my lunch in spacious restaurant, next to Masoala Rainforest Hall, with a good view. My next destination in Switzerland was Lucerne - a beautiful town by the lake. I hope I will share with you soon!