Our Trip to ZSL London Zoo April 2018

Grab a cuppa and get comfy because this is a long one!

My friend Christy was flying over from New Zealand and was going to be in London for a few days with her Fiance before heading up to Scotland and asked if we wanted to meet up. I obviously said yes, and suggested going to London Zoo for the day because I bloody Love it!!

The good thing about where we live, is that we are only a 25 minute train journey into central London. Opening up a world of possibilities when it comes to outings and adventures. There are copious amounts of amazing things to do. Like London Zoo!

This was Molly’s first time on a train, her first time into London, and her first time going to the Zoo and seeing the animals. To be honest, I was an anxiety filled nervous wreck the night before. My mind went into overdrive of everything that could possibly go wrong – Getting the train with a 4 month old and all that a 4 month old entails for a day long trip into the middle of London.

We left our house early, like 7am kind of early. The thing with London Zoo is that it is massive! I have learnt over the years that you can spend a whole day there and still not get a chance to see everything. So I wanted to get there for opening to try and avoid this happening to us.

We got the train to Clapham Junction and then the overground to Camden Road. It was here that we realized that not only had we forgotten the rain cover to Molly’s pram, but we forgot the clip on buggy bag that contained the nappies and the wipes. Major parenting fail right there! Luckily there was a shop on the way where we could get supplies. Because it’s us, we found the whole situation pretty hilarious!

We arrived before Christy and Neil so decided to have a little mooch around until they arrived. We had our photo taken in front of a green screen by a member of staff as we entered, we will see what that looks like at the end!

We started off in the Aquarium. We read about the underwater conservation projects and watched as Molly was completely amazed by all the lights and the fish.

No self respecting Harry Potter fan can visit London Zoo without checking out the Reptile House, where the iconic snake scene from Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone was filmed. I wonder how many Potterheads have tried their parseltongue skills out here?

We met up with Christy and Neil and went straight to see the penguins! The penguin enclosure is amazing. It is designed so you able to see so much of these beautiful animals, both on land and under the water. We went for the talk that they give whilst feeding them. Molly was glued to them and was following them as they swam by!

The Zoo also has a Monkey walk through. This is one of my favorite parts of the Zoo. Buggies aren’t allowed in the walk through due to the mischievous buggers stealing things, but there is a buggy park by the entrance. I love these little guys, so cheeky and full of character!

We then went and had a look at the tigers.Tiger territory opened back in March 2013 and is five times larger than the previous site. They weren’t up to much, having a snooze.

Land of the Lions is the most recent of London Zoo’s ambitious re-developments that opened in 2016. The land of the Lions is designed to emulate India’s Gir Forest National Park. Surrounded by brightly coloured market stalls, rickshaws, a rural train station and raised walkways that give lots of different viewing perspectives. Both of these new developments allow you to get up close to these breathtaking animals.

We had such an amazing day wondering around the Zoo, looking at all the animals and catching up. Watching these two with Molly makes me all kicky feet. I really do have some of the best friends, just a shame we live so far away from each other.

We ended up staying until almost closing time. We managed to see everything. We were completely pooped! It was such an amazing and perfect day filled with love and a bucket load of laughter.Watching Molly’s reactions to some of the animals was brilliant. She was completely fascinated with the monkeys in the Rainforest Live exhibit ( note to self – take off all possible clothing and blankets off young ones in prams as it is freaking hot in there! Same with the Butterfly walk through. ) as well as the birds and the llamas! Not so fussed with the flamingos though, bless her heart!

We had a look in the shop on the way out and we HAD to get a ZSL fridge magnet to commemorate the day. ( I have a thing about collecting fridge magnets of places we have been to, does anyone else do this? ). Remember that photo we had taken in front of the green screen on the way in? Well they print and create a booklet with the photo, as well as a magnet and a key chain for you to buy ( £20) and take home. I never normally bother with this, but as it was Molly’s first time – We thought feck it!

I have decided though, that one day I’d like to do a zoo experience. There are loads of zoo experiences to be had, including an amazing variety of “Meet the….”, allowing you to get up close and person with the animals, and a keeper to talk you through the whole experience – perfect for a birthday outing or for a special occasion…or you know, just because!

I created a short video of our trip into London which you can watch here if you fancy it. Safe to say, by the time we got home, put Bug to bed, Liam and I were well and truly done for!

But we would totally do it all over again!!