Sunday 11 August 2013

A Lifestyle Post- London Zoo

Hi Everyone,

Today I spent most of the day at London Zoo, so haven't had much of a chance to write about anything beauty related I'm afraid. Instead I am going to have a go at writing my first ever lifestyle post, so please forgive me if you are not remotely interested in what I get up to at the weekend (I wouldn't blame you!). I promise this is just a trial run and I will be returning to my usual beauty talk in the next post, so I hope you enjoy this and if not then I'm sorry and please ignore my ramblings!

I've been meaning to take a trip to London Zoo for ages but it was one of those things that went on my 'London Sightseeing List' and just never seemed to get done (along with Madame Tussauds, Hampton Court Palace and MANY others). I've now been living in London for 3 years and STILL feel that there's so much I haven't seen, so my boyfriend and I decided to finally tick something off our to-do list and go to the zoo.


Zoos I know can be a little controversial and there are all sorts of ethical concerns around keeping animals in captivity. This is something I am very aware of and hope no-one takes offence from this post or the photos in it. ZSL is a registered charity and does loads of conservation work to protect endangered species and their habitats, so I like to think I was supporting its charitable work in visiting. That said, some of the animals do look so bored in their enclosures that you can't help but feel uncomfortable, and so I can definitely sympathise with the cruelty argument. It is, however, just incredible to be able to see some of the world's most amazing animals up close.

We got the train to the zoo from Ealing as part of National Rail's 2-for-1 deal that they're currently doing on London attractions. We had to queue for a while to get in (curse the school holidays!) but it was probably about 20 minutes in all which was a lot better than I was expecting. Upon arrival we headed into the Aquarium first and then the Reptile House, where they had the biggest snake I have ever seen!! Honestly, he was absolutely huge and looked like he was digesting something as he had loads of lumps and bumps in different places.



We then crossed over to the 'African' area of the zoo where they had zebra, giraffes, warthogs, hunting dogs and loads more. They also had a nightlife enclosure which was full of rats and bats- not my favourite place!




One of the most amazing parts of our visit for me was seeing the gorillas in Gorilla Kingdom. They are just such amazing, intelligent creatures and whilst some of them were running around others seemed to be doing some rather impressive yoga poses. London Zoo is home to loads of species of monkeys which were a real treat to see, and these two were very sweet grooming each other before having a bit of a nap.


After a spot of lunch (very expensive lunch, might I add!) we went to check out other areas like the 'Outback', the lion enclosure, tiger territory and Penguin Beach. I'm afraid I didn't take that many photos as it felt a bit intrusive whilst many of the animals were snoozing. My boyfriend got very excited at one point when he thought he saw a lion, but it turned out to be a man walking his dog in nearby Regent's Park haha.




It is really tiring walking around the zoo for so long, and I would recommend bringing your own food and drinks in if you're planning to go. The penguin beach was nice although I wonder how they deal with the heat on a day like today when most people were in shorts and t-shirts. They didn't seem too bothered by it in the water though so I suspect that this nice looking pool is actually pretty chilly!


Overall we had a really lovely day and managed to see so much whilst we were there. Some of the most amazing creatures for me were in the reptile house or the various monkey enclosures, which also contain other animals such as sloths, armadillos and the occasional big spider. It is not the cheapest of days out and they take every opportunity to try and cash in with photos and a ridiculously expensive gift shop! We managed to dodge all of that and overall I'm really glad that I got to go.

Right, that is my first lifestyle post done! I hope I haven't bored you all silly and promise I will be doing more beauty posts this week including my recent ELF haul and hopefully my giveaway! In the meantime I hope you all have a fantastic start to the week.

Rosie x




3 comments:

  1. I love lifestyle posts hun, keep them up!! :)

    Lianne
    http://thebrunettesays.blogspot.co.uk

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  2. Looks like you had a lovely day! I really need to tick London Zoo off my to-do list too haha need to try and go before summer ends, I hope you do some more lifestyle posts in the future :)

    Lauren x

    http://teaandpost.blospot.co.uk

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    Replies
    1. It was a really good day out especially in the good weather! I really wanted to do Zoo lates but think I've missed them this summer :(

      Rosie x

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