Sunday at the Zoo

Last weekend, after overexerting myself earlier in the week, I laid pretty low. However, by Sunday, I was stir crazy again, so I wanted to get out and get some fresh air. Since it was a Sunday, my options were limited (most things are closed on Sundays in this region, even in major cities), but I had the brilliant idea to check the Munich Zoo schedule. Surprise: They are open every day of the week during this time of year! I had no excuse; I needed to go.

I piled into the car and drove up to the south side of Munich to take the subway to the zoo stop. The zoo website said that the zoo was just a 3-minute walk from the subway station, so I figured I wouldn't exert myself too much trying to get to the zoo and could stop as much as I wanted along the trail through the zoo. I'm not sure, however, who they clocked who made it to the zoo from the subway in 3 minutes, but they must have been running or riding a segue. It took me at least 10 minutes to get to the entrance at a decent pace and then another 10-15 minutes to stand in line for the tickets. Regardless of the extra hassle, I was determined to have a good day and took the inconsistencies in stride.

The Munich Zoo (Hellebrun Zoo) is beautiful. It was established early in the 1900s and was rebuilt a couple times after the wars destroyed parts of it. The zoo prides itself on having more natural habitats for its animals - animals that would normally live together in the wild are housed together, though they carefully (and fiscally responsibly) keep predators separated from their prey through concealed moats and steep valleys. And although the zoo is older, it has many modern touches in architecture and housing.

Once I got through the admission gates, I carefully looked over the map and decided on my path, to go along the perimeter of the zoo and pop in and out of exhibits that interested me and that I had the energy to go into. Reasonable plan, right?

Well, it turned out that the zoo is HUGE and the perimeter is not exactly separated from the exhibits, so I got lost and mixed up a few times. The trickiest part was the primate area, where I just couldn't find my way out of it to the next exhibit/path. Thankfully, there are plenty of benches and biergartens and ice cream stands to stop at along the way, so I paced myself through strategically planned water and "eis" breaks.

In all, I spent probably 3 hours walking around the zoo, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to see what the "Americas exhibit" contained and to realize that the animals that I see from day to day are different from those the folks in other parts of the world. I was extremely impressed with the variety and number of primates the zoo housed, which might be why I kept getting lost in that exhibit. Most of the monkeys and apes had at least two large areas to play in: One to be fed in with a few things to climb and then another outside with huge tree houses, ladders, and moats. And there were so many different primates that you saw so many of their activities at one time. I probably could have watched the mommas take care of their babies or the adolescents play all day. It always amazes me to see how much of their behavior reminds me of human behavior. And it's so hard to look into the face or at the hands of a monkey or ape and not recognize it as someone familiar and human.


Another exhibit that entertained me was the parrot/guinea pig habitat. I have never seen guinea pigs in formal captivity (only in my friends' cages, etc.). And there were SO many! They live on the floor of one of the parrot habitats, and, in true Bavarian form, feast on baked goods and pretzels. :) I couldn't help but laugh at this exhibit. And what a great life for those guinea pigs!


The aquarium building was impressive, too. It is probably one of the oldest parts of the zoo, and I find it really interesting (and conveniently cool in temperature) that the majority of the aquarium exhibits are underground. And when you enter the aquarium (at ground level), two beautiful fountains flank the stairways down to the exhibits.

One of the final exhibits I came across was the kid's petting zoo, where goats, cows, and horses were available for petting. I have a soft spot for goats, so I had to stop and watch them play for a few minutes. One of the goats, doing what they do best, climbing, figured out where the feed came from, so he climbed up on the fence and craned his neck so his tongue was licking the receptacle for the feed. It was hilarious, and the kid standing next to the feeder was caught off guard. I just had to get a picture of him. Smart little goat. :)

Here are few of my favorite pictures from my journey through the zoo. I am so glad that I made it out to get some fresh air and see some animals that are internationally familiar.