Hello again! This has to be the most blog updates I’ve done in a week since… ever, I guess. Nothing like having the time to sit back, relax and not have to worry about anything. Jane’s currently soaking in a nice hot bath, we’ve had a nice meal at the hotel’s restaurant and another great day.
Today we did two main things. Firstly, we revisited Central Park, this time to go to the Central Park Zoo. Jane was very excited about this – so much so that she appeared to be regressing to childhood. I have to admit, it having been a long time since I’d seen a zoo also, I was also keen to see the animals.
Central Park Zoo is relatively small in the grand scheme of zoos. We later discovered by finally reading the guidebook that we bought a couple of days before the wedding that the Bronx Zoo is the one to go to if you want a full-on large-scale zoo/safari-style experience. That’s going to have to wait for another visit though, I think! This isn’t to say that Central Park Zoo isn’t good – far from it, in fact, as the relatively few displays of animals on offer mean that you can easily get around all of them and take plenty of photos.
We started by looking at the Rainforest section – an area where it is impossible for people to walk in without going “Oooh, it’s hot in here!”. Well, duh. In the Rainforest area we saw a huge variety of tropical birds and some amazing monkeys whose species escapes me for the moment, but they had huge bushy tails like squirrels that were very “expressive” in their own peculiar way.
Next up, we saw the polar bears, who were asleep. It occurred to us that it was entirely plausible for someone to go to one of these zoos and not see any animals if they were all asleep. I felt a little sorry for the polar bears as it was a relatively warm day today, but then I remembered how cold it had been for the last couple of days and determined that they were probably all right.
Moving around, we then saw a red panda, which looks more like a tree-hugging fox than a panda. It too was asleep, but at least it had the decency to sleep in a tree where you could see it.
Next we saw the snow monkeys of “see no evil” fame. These little guys were extremely active – running and jumping around and picking things off their feet. It’s strange how watching a creature like a monkey do something that we do – picking fluff from between your toes, for example – is infinitely more interesting and amusing than seeing another human doing it.
Then we saw the penguins, which Jane was very excited about. The penguins lived in a darkened room that smelled of fish, and were extremely docile, swimming right up to the edge of their enclosure and posing for pictures. I was also impressed at their speed in the water considering their clumsiness on land – and the fact that they can throw themselves out of the water at high speed and then land upright without breaking a sweat.
So that was the zoo. Fun, and a worthwhile way to spend the morning.
This afternoon we took the three-hour Circle Line Island Tour, which circumnavigates the whole of Manhattan with a guided commentary. The tour we elected to go on at 3:30 also happened to coincide with sunset towards its end, so it was likely to be a good photo opportunity. Photos to follow when I’ve been through all of them – over a thousand now, I reckon. đŸ™‚
I'm Not Doctor Who 