After the 15 minute walk from the bustle of Camden Town, me and my teen daughter were not impressed with the long queue that confronted us when we arrived at 610pm for our sunset safari at London Zoo on Friday evening. And even less so when instructed to dispose of our liquids – especially as the weather was so warm. However, the queue moved quickly – and we were calmed by the sound of a distant steel band – and within 10 minutes we were through the security bag check, equipped with a small map advising the times of the various attractions and into the zoo. Yayy!
I was surprised at how few kids were around – it was a real delight to be able to walk around the zoo without the thundering crowds that you often face in day time. Whilst a few attractions were closed (apparently the baby gorilla needs its sleep and the Land of the Lions is under construction – so the usual residents were holidaying in Whipsnade), the other attractions of the evening more than made up for it.
Tortoises and tigers
We didn’t follow the suggested trail. We checked out the Outback area and saw rheas but no wallabies. We were a bit disappointed that the remaining komodo dragon had recently deceased, although we were amused to spot the giant salamander in a nearby tank. We waved at the huge Galapogas tortoises who looked rather sleepy.
The camels were out and about and being rather friendly and posed rather well for lots of photos. And then we spent some time watching the amazing tigers who walked around, yawned, drank and went about their business.
Aardvark adventure
Then the highlight of my evening. I found the aadvarks! I’ve never seen them in a UK zoo before and they are one of my favourite creatures. I must admit I was green with envy watching some people do their “Zookeeper for the day” experience actually in the aardvark encampment. I had no idea that they were so cute and friendly – rolling over for their bellies to be rubbed and encouraging their keepers to tickle them.
And to add to my joy the keepers then coaxed them outside for feeding. I was sad that they didn’t get to eat as many bugs as they would normally in the wild (15,000 a day) but they willingly showed their very long tongues retrieving a few from the keepers.
Blackburn Pavilion birds
Then we came across a new – for us – attraction – the Blackburn Pavilion. With an interesting clock and bird themed sculpture outside, this was a Victorian themed exhibit for exotic birds. After some elegant atrium cages we walked through warm, jungle-like rooms where the birds flew around freely. We even spotted some tiny humming birds. The sounds of the bird voices was wondrous.
Penguin antics
We walked past the giant anteaters who were snuggled up for the night and joined the cheering crowds at penguin beach where we were entertained by what seemed like hundreds of penguins diving and swimming as they tucked into their fishy supper. That must be one of the happiest things to watch.
We wandered through another warm and moist exhibit – the butterfly tent – and marvelled at some of the keepers who had real butterflies adorning their hair.
Eating and live entertainment
Feeling peckish we wandered into the vibrant central area which was ablaze with fairy lights and dominated by an illuminated carousel. There were numerous street food stalls and we tucked into some gluten free corn wraps around a Venezuelan chicken concoction which was dressed with avocado, cheese and plantain. Delicious!
We followed some characters dressed in Lion King-like costumes – giraffes, antelopes and zebras – and entered a covered amphitheatre where a performance took place. The animal carnival characters danced to “He lives in you” and delighted kids and adults alike by encouraging them to join in and take animal selfies. It was really quite an emotional moment.
Outside, there were deck chairs and large bean bags where you could sit in the evening sunshine and listen to the gentle guitar music and admire the large illuminated animal structures.
Lovely lemurs
And then we walked through the World of Lemurs where one of the most charismatic residents was trying to get out through the guest entrance. The keepers were marvellous with both the animals and the crowds. We stood so close to some of the smaller lemurs who seemed entirely relaxed about walking above and around the delighted spectators that we wondered if they might climb onto our shoulders. They make the most extraordinary noise – which we were told was their friendly greeting.
Playful otters
Then we walked under the tunnel and watched a pygmy hippo eat some grass and were then summoned by some squeaking otters who did the most incredible acrobatics in the water and showed their dexterity manipulating tiny bits of food in their nimble hands. Although the sunset safari stays open until 10pm, by 9pm we were tired and overwhelmed by our animal encounters.
I’m now saving up so one day we can do the zookeeper experience to get up close and personal with those aardvarks.
http://www.zsl.org/sunset-safari
Priority tickets are £16 and advance tickets are £14.56 (we paid £20.80 for ours).
Kids under three go free.
