Lovely day at Artis zoo in Amsterdam

What a special and naughty animals! No wonder they play such important and funny parts in the movie Madagascar;-).

She asked me several times to come and look her up while she was working there, so I finally got round to that.

…….heaps of people were strolling through the grounds looking happy and relaxed….

Many, many children were playing and looking at the animals….

…and my eye fell on this young mother. I call her the Blue Tattoo gal. Her tats all have a story. A remarkable young woman.

…..and the animals looked beautiful in the light.

The big cats were enjoying lazy naps in the sun that day.

“So first you wash the apple, then you eat it. Hm, funny taste…do you think this apple is ‘off’?”

“Now pay attention, little one. You just watched Sesame Street, but now you have to focus on the news. You are old enough to understand what’s going on in the big world.”

Some monkeys are colorful and weird-looking:

This one has the sweetest eyes:

And this baby gorilla is seeking his mums protection:

Some of them apparently are Dance Instructors:

“Yes, that’s it. Now place your right foot to the left, and then….” Etc.

Some birds try to stay incognito, but in the end they have to give it up:

At the other end of the spectrum we find the showoffs amongst the birds; the peacocks and the flamingos.

Ah well, they are allowed to show of, both species being such beautiful and weird creatures;-)!

Talking about beautiful AND weird, the following bird wins in both beauty and ugliness, as far as I’m concerned:

Don’t you agree? The feathers are beautiful in the most perfect color scheme, but that warted, naked head! I was intrigued and charmed, I must admit.

I mentioned the Lemurs, that my friend Diane looks after, a couple of times a month. They are cheeky animals. Look at the one sunbathing! Fun! And do you see how special the coloring of his fur is, outlining his skeleton beneath?

The giraffe’s are very photogenic with their net-patterns:

They seem to have a tendency to get their necks entangled somehow;-)

You couldn’t groom it any prettier if you tried, this tail!

“Hello, is there anybody in there? Hello?”

There are komodo dragons (with a newborn) and lizards:

This baby elephant had so much fun in the bath, while his mother watched over him:

There always seem to be a lot of interactions going on amongst seals and sealions:

As you can see you can easily spend a whole day at this zoo without getting bored. The animals are beautiful and interesting, Artis is a zoo with history and it’ s well laid out and landscaped.

So if you like to visit zoos, then I can highly recommend Artis in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

For me this visit was an exception. Even though I had a wonderful time, the small spaces that the animals have make me sad.

How do you feel about zoos?