Dear All, Eddy and I decided to visit Pairi Daiza again on September 20 and were hoping to arrange a meeting there with Cécile and Jos, a retired couple we learned to know in Planckendael. Unfortunately for them, that day was not working due to other appointments. However, in the evening of September 20, they both found an opportunity to go to Pairi Daiza on Wednesday 21!!! A bit sad, but nevertheless, there was a double joy. And we have decided to combine our reports, photos and videos. And so, let us start. When Eddy and I left for our 4th visit, our plan was to go to the new “World of the Cold” (first part is more or less finished and accessible) and to see all other newcomers. Even though it was rather chilly, the sun had also decided to accompany us. When we arrived, there were no crowds yet and therefore, according to us, it was a good idea to go straight to Baby Panda (or Pinda as Eddy is always saying). By the way, his official name is Tian Bao. Na ja, “going straight” is always wishful thinking, especially for me. On our way to Baby Pinda, there are so many details to see again or to discover. One of the first animals were the snow leopards and I still adore their beautiful tail. Monsieur by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr And Jos made a little video of them: https://youtu.be/jZarnRSkQA4
The golden takin also made “acte de présence”, but is still having no partner and furthermore, it was not easy to find him. Another lovely detail was the nice stones laid in the grass. marking the direction of baby panda by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
I already told you that Pairi Daiza is paying a lot of attention to such small details and this is making the journey a dream. And then, I found the elderberry tree. And I smiled because it reminded me of a time in Wuppertal where I was asking: what is Holunder? And then, the participants tried to explain me with hands and feet that Holunder is elderberry is vlier (in Dutch) or sureau (for the French). Do you remember Bea? The berries were not ripe yet but I am sure that the birds soon will savor them. elderberry, almost ripe by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
When we arrived at the cave of the panda’s, stewards asked us to form a single row (reminded me of my school time) and not to use the flash. Queue was about 25 minutes and guess what happened as soon as people could enter??? Yes, exactly, using their flash!!! OK, it is a bit dark there but one could expect that an adult is realizing the need of such question. And now about Baby Pinda: he was actually smaller than I thought and playing while mommy was sleeping. Na ja, playing, more of a bit waggling from here to there like babies can do. With the bare eyes, one could see this, but it is a pure nightmare to make a decent pic of that. At least I am happy that Eddy was able to make a photo where you can see where its ear is! here you can see at least an ear! by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr Unfortunately, as you can imagine, there are still a lot of people wanting to see him and therefore, we were allowed to stay there for only about 10 minutes (DEEP SIGH!). But at least, I saw little Tian Bao. The thing that made we worry was the behaviour of the male Xing Hui. In the video that Jos made, one can see that he is actually showing stereotype walking. https://youtu.be/s5CurUWpSOo The first newcomers to visit were the koalas, 3 girls, named Carina, Coco and Zelda, but do not ask me who is who. Their inside enclosure is comparable to the one in Antwerp, with this big difference that there are no (!!) glass shields, which means that you can take decent pics. One of the girls was just lazy and did not move for a centimetre, the other one opened her eyes for 5 seconds but the third one was more active. Frankly said, because she was apparently having an itchy moment and a little hunger. halloè by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr The next day, Cécile and Jos were having the good luck to see them in their outside enclosure and in his video, you can see that they are loving it: https://youtu.be/prbA7Y7W9p8
Together with the koalas, there are also the long-nosed potoroos. Never saw this kind of animals before in my life, even never heard about it. It is also called the rat-kangaroo and it is a marsupial. Rabbit-size but moving forward like a kangaroo. At this moment, there are only 3 of them, but 2 were making plans to increase that number!
When you leave the koala’s, you are close to a corner of “Terre des Origins”. And I couldn’t resist to pay a visit to the shoebills. Their enclosure is next to the Mersus Emergo, a former trading ship (inside, you can see insects, turtles and so). shoebills by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr On the deck of the ship, there is the possibility to have a lunch and Jos told me that while they were eating, all of a sudden, they saw that one of the macaques caught a gull and started to eat it! Just like Jos said: if animals in captivity are offered the same opportunities like in the wild, they behave like in the wild. And here is the video: https://youtu.be/Wcq5CRc7Gf0
It goes without saying that the undersigned by then was very hungry and needed food. In the Brasserie, it was Pasta Day. Actually a sign that the closing is coming nearer. You will maybe recall that Pairi Daiza is closed from begin November through begin of March. Ah well, with all my teeth problems, one big advantage: at least, I could eat it! And then, it was time to go to the World of the Cold. First thing to see was the Izba, a big wooden house, where normally there is also a restaurant: buffet with grill and specialties from the far North. But on Tuesday, the restaurant was closed because they were preparing one or another event. Nevertheless, we were allowed to have a look inside and to take some pics. Well, tja, I do not know whether we were allowed to do so, but we just did it and were not kicked out! The decoration inside is just dreamlike. And I hope that next time, the restaurant will be available for the visitors. Another very astonishing detail: on the roofs of the Izba, there are goats and sheep grazing. the Izba by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr lamp (or how do you call this?) by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr taking ccare of the roofs of the Izba by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
Next to the Izba, there is a little museum of steam trains and these are used for the trip through Pairi Daiza (so far, I didn’t try it because I love to walk). And on the other side, there is the hangar with the floatplane that came all the way from Canada (hope I am using the correct word here) together with some very old trucks. They are all still working but I do not know whether they are used. I remember that the transport of the plane was a complete logistic nightmare for Pairi Daiza, but they made it. And our feet continued to walk and we found other newcomers. Like the raccoons: having a very nice place, but one of them was apparently in a VERY bad mood and when he/she did not get what he/she wanted, he/she with a very grumpy face went to a sleeping platform. O JEE, nothing human is strange for an animal, isn’t it. Opposite of the raccoons are the moose, also newcomers but they all were in a better mood. and this one in a very bad mood by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr At these enclosure, you can find a belvedere offering a perfect view of the new bison enclosure. And this enclosure is so big that you have to search where the bison are. It is at such moments that I regret the limits of my little old camera. The power of the zoom is way too small. We learned that other newcomers were the orang-utans. But on our way to them, again, I could not resist and wanted to see the white tigers. I am afraid that I am running out of words to describe their beauty, especially the male is a real majesty. and Lord (a real majesty) by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
But Cécile and Jos were having very good luck. They saw them bathing and made a little video of it and here it is: https://youtu.be/oP8y4SFRn1o
And now, the orang-utans: we only saw one of them, but he was very busy to get some goodies out of the box by using the stick. Very concentrated and sometimes a look of: ATSCH, they are looking at me. But using hands and feet and after a while, all these efforts became too much and then it was: off to the food ball, an easier manner to get these goodies. I think that it is still a rather young male because the cheeks are not yet so developed. HMMPFF HMMPFF by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr and will it work? by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
When leaving the orang-utan, one is very close to the Kingdom of Ganesha, the world of the elephants. And also here, a belvedere is installed to see the new outside enclosure of the Indian elephants (extra mural). And OH MY, this enclosure is in one word HUGE. Zoo Cologne is having a very beautiful one, but this one is even bigger. I made some pics to give you an idea of the size and on the second pic, in the background, you can find the male. In the first part, sweet Nang Faa and her family is residing there. She is still a shy little shy elephant girl. Especially compared to Qiyo in Planckendael or even Anchali in Zoo Berlin at that age, this girl is really behaving very well. Actually, she reminds me a lot of Kai-Mook and is staying rather close to her mommy. elephant enclosure from one side by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr but adorable by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
The former outside enclosure of the Indian elephants (intra mural) is now used as a sanctuary for old circus elephants. There are 3 Indian elephants for a German circus, but there are 2 very special ones. While Eddy and I were watching them, all of a sudden, I realized that one of them was an African elephant and I was surprised because of that. Unfortunately, I forgot to make a pic and later I learned about their story: both are coming from a Swedish circus. Daela, the African elephant is 28 years old, was adopted by Pairi Daiza to spend the rest of her life there. But then they discovered that she was used to live together with Dunja (Indian elephant, 47 years old and with her +5,000 kilos the biggest female elephant in Europe). And so, Pairi Daiza also adopted Dunja and now, both elephants can enjoy the rest of their life together. And seeing this African elephant was of course a good reason to go to the others and one of them was very busy with a (well, elephant-like) goodie, but most of all, I loved the background music and although it has nothing to do with Pairi Daiza or animals, I am hereby posting the link (grow up with this song): http://youtu.be/xCrGy9NcVc8
And so, we reached the enclosure of the white rhinos, where a youngster, son of Eleonore, arrived this year. For Belgium, he is very special since he was born in the morning of March 22, the day of the deadly attacks in Brussels and Zaventem Airport. It is a little boy and he is named Sethemba, which means HOPE. His head is full of mischief and the warthogs do know all about it. When we arrived there, they were deep asleep until this “pateetje” decided to chase them away. He even tried to impress his daddy but immediately realized that he was still a size or 10 too small for that. Move move by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr Very impressive daddy by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr Outsch, only almost, WOUAAH by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
And then we started to feel our feet becoming very tired and knew that we had to stop our walking around. But tja, then we came across the enclosure of the hippos and there too, there is a baby (very big one) stealing the show and our hearts, especially when it was giving kissies to his sleepy mommy with her big moustache and climbing on her back. But mommy stayed very cool and barely opened her eyes. whose moustache is this by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr Peekaboo by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
And as it often happens in Pairi Daiza, we found Algoa Bay, the place of the seals and the penguins. The seals were busy with their swimming and for me, it was not possible to make a decent pic, but the penguins were kind enough to pose for a few moments. I am nice, no by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr We also visited the crypt of the bats (also very new), but way too dark to make a pic and as you know, no flash allowed. But let me tell you, it is very funny to stay there and just feel the air caused by their wings and they do not touch you! As I already wrote before, Pairi Daiza is not just a zoo, but a complete experience for the eyes and the soul. And so, I found a group of statues: a wedding party. Made some pics of it, meeting the newlyweds, the musicians, the dansers and the guests and laughed when I noticed that the mantis was eating a lobster and the pork a chicken while the dog is serving the wine! it takes two to tango by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr wonderful meals by Patricia Roberts, on Flickr
das ist schade, dass ihr den kleinen Panda nur 10 min anschauen durftet. Aber ich kann mir vorstellen, welche Menschenmassen gerade durch Pari Daiza strömen, um den kleinen Panda zu sehen.
Dein neuer Bericht mit den tollen Fotos ist klasse geworden Vielen Dank für den ausführlichen Bericht!
dein Bericht ist wunderbar, was für grandiose Aufnahmen Ich wusste gar nicht, dass in Pairi Daiza auch weiße Tiger zuhause sind, so niedlich die 3 Koalas, und der kleine aufgeweckte Pinguin hat es mir besonders angetan Das Froschkonzert zum Schluss ist absolut amüsant, fast hört man deren Froschgequäke, nein Musik
nun habe ich mir Deinen Bericht übersetzt. Vielen Dank, dass Du so ausführlich über Deinen Besuch in Pairi Daiza berichtest. Danke an Jos für die Videos, Schneeleoparden und Koala sind wunderbare Tiere. Das Video von dem Makaken so kurz vor meinem Frühstück, aber so ist die Natur. Den kleinen Panda zu sehen war sicher etwas ganz besonderes.
Die Bilder von den Tierskulpturen fand ich sehr interessant - eine tolle Idee. Danke auch für deine schönen Bilder. Der Park sieht sehr schön aus und ist sicher eine Reise wert, aber für mich ist Pairi Daiza sehr weit ca 1000km. Aber man soll niemals nie sagen.
Das Leben ist bunt 
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04.10.2016 19:23
Antworten
Steffi
Vielen Dank für den ausführlichen Bericht!
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