The Zoo

Yesterday we went to the Tierpark in Berlin.

It was very hot, but the weather was dry, and the Tierpark gave us wonderful shaded paths and a gentle breeze, so mostly we were very comfortable.

The Bears at the entrance to the Tierpark!

Uschi had injured her foot, which required her to have cortisone injections in it! She was still in a lot of pain, so she stayed home to rest it, and I went off to meet with Bernie at the Zoo.

As we walked in there was a great pond area with large, friendly pelicans. I have seen pelicans before, when we lived in Florida, but these guys were huge!!!

I do admit to being a little leery when I approached this guy. He seemed to be the Pelican in charge, and I worried he might come after me.

But soon he was smiling at me and all was well.

My Aussie friend, Bernie under a statue of a Kangaroo!

The monkeys, as usual were hilarious. This little guy almost looks like he was smoking a cigarette!

I can assure you, however, that it was just a twig!

Another cage had several newborn monkeys in it. I think one had to be fairly young because the mother kept it to her breast the entire time.

And when another young monkey came by (perhaps her baby from last year?), she chased it away.

Since I can speak a VERY little German I decided it was a good time to practice! I used my limited skills quite a bit, and only made one grievous error, which caused the clerk to giggle, and once she corrected me and explained, I laughed too! That’s okay, I was at least attempting to speak and I think that is the most important thing!

We went to the reptile house, and saw alligators, crocodiles, and iguanas, in all their glory.

Here is a shot that Bernie took with his zoom lens. I think it came out splendidly!

Because it is the end of springtime here, there were baby animals all around the park. Oh what darling faces we saw as they clutched their Mamas! It is also springtime when the young lady mammals are in season, so we saw many areas that the boys had been separated. One elephant male, was not at all happy by this, but since the Zoo already has one toddle elephant and a newborn.

I totally understood what Papa Elephant had to be kept away, even if he did not!

We walked all around the park, stopping for cold refreshments and we even had a wonderful lunch sitting outside, in the shade. Schnitzel, pomme frites and beer! Very fine, indeed!

Those of you that know me well, already know I have a great love for elephants. I’m not sure what it is, but I love these seemingly gentle creatures. I know they can go nuts and kill a man, but when I observe them with their young, I am always amazed at their gentleness.

The mama and new baby elephant playing together in the water!

Yesterday I insisted we walk all the way to the back of the Zoo to the elephant area. There were two babies, one really a toddler and the other was just born in March. The toddler liked to play with the baby, and the two mother elephants allowed this and kept their eyes on the two. At one point the mothers took them to the pond area to swim, and carefully they allowed the two in.

The toddler didn’t stay in  too long, but the wee baby wanted to swim to China, I think! I got quite concerned, as did Bernie, but the two mothers got on either side of the baby elephant and herded it back to the shoreline and then made a containment area for the little elephant.

I stood by with many families and children from the area watching this. I think we all were impressed with the gentle Mama elephants!

We had been there walking and taking copious numbers of pictures, when finally at 3:30 we decided to hop the U-Bahn and go make to Uschi’s village. We called from two stops ahead of our destination, and we got picked up by car.

When we arrived back at Uschi’s, it was time for coffee and cake. I’m not sure who started this tradition, but it is one I love and enjoy when I am over visiting!

Yes, once I get home to America I will have to go to the Weight Watcher’s confessional! And then after saying my prayers of penance, start eating salads and only salads and actually continuing to exercise. I have walked, a lot while I have been here. Even in all of this heat!

We sat down a while later to a grilled meal. Uschi made her potato salad (totally delicious!) with grilled wurst and chicken and pork!

I chose the Thuringia Bratwurst as this is something I love and cannot get in the states. Uschi is from Thuringia, and so she knows where to get the real and best Thuringia Bratwurst!

For dessert, Uschi made a creamy pudding with fruit and specks of chocolate in it!

This was also very delicious!

The evening ended about 10 o’clock when Bernie left to head back into the city. He is leaving today for Hong Kong, before he heads back home to Australia! It was wonderful to meet Bernie, and I thank him for allowing me to use many of his pictures on the blog today.

I will leave you with this picture of me horsing around. I just couldn’t help it. Since my childhood hero was Lucille Ball, I have always gone for a good sight gag! Have a great day everyone!!!