West Yorkshire

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Always in favor of toads. Thanks S

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There were enclosed pools, but also a sream which simply appearred and disappeared and seemed to have no connection to the animals. At the very least there were no signs asking you not to throw coins in, and other people had. So I did. Three pennies for luck. Then again I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, which is supposed to mean you will return, and I can't see that happening! You know me, I like the idea of the other-worldly but am too cynical to really believe.

There were some HUGE fish in the pools.
Every now and then one would surface and leave me gasping. Seriously, think inside arm from elbow to fingertips.
There was an elusive white one which put me in mind of Falcor. Others were as orange as Sunny-D and twice as healthy. They all flashed a fin every now and then. This was my best attempt.

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Fish and turtles.
I can say all seemed happy and healthy, as far as you can tell with these sort of creaatures anyway.

They had warmth and space and food. I don't feel guilty looking at littl slow things in captivity. Itt's not like a big cat in a ting cage.

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Into the Amazon!
A dimly lit room with aquarium cages.
Okay, so I didn't feel as good about this. The frogs seemed quite jolly though, as did the chameleon (every photo I tried to take was obscured at least in part by a bossy little ?6? year old directing Daddy how and when and where to take his photos. So I spoke the chameleon version of parseltongue and it grabbed her in its little hands and bundled her off to where nasty children go.

Snake instead.
Sorry, in this room I was dancing in and out of family groups the effort of being considerate I lost track of which snake was which. Their viewable habitatats were much smaller than Mortimer's, Limey. But it's possible they have more space available out of hours, from programmes I've seen of reptile houses.

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The dim room opened up into an atrium suffused with light.
I sneezed like a pig of course.

Again, I couldn't get to the info to find out what these fish were. But they were rather big and shuddery. The sort of fish you'd prefer to have on your plate then in your fevered dreams.

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Well fuck me sideways.
I've just found out what happened with the photos (I think). It's NOTHING to do with the phone, which is why the manual was no help. It's to do wth how I log onto the computer.

Hold the press.

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I looked up the fish for you. Pacus apparently.
No word on whether they're edible.

On to the birds.

Their hall is (unsurprisingly) high, and the sun was out so the place was drenched in light as well as the tropical warmth. They're used to people trooping through their habitat, so although I wouldn't claim they were friendly, like my minions in the park - they weren't shy. Birds gotta fly though, so I ended up with quite a few empty photos, and occasionally a blurred mark to show where I'd nearly caught a bird on camera.

These were obliging enough to stay still.
Two Victorian Crowned Pigeons, and a Superb Starling. I agree.

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The background sound of the falls merged with birdcalls in a very pleasing fashion.
I very nearly asked someone to take a photo of me, but then realised it was better to be self-reliant so that I was the only one to blame!

Obviously I couldn't show myself behind the falls, so this is the best I could come up with. The main point is that it's wonderful to stand and look out through the curtain of water and the unseasonable greenery and see the dense whirring of wings.

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Two Scarlet Ibis (Ibises? Ibii?)
And one sacred Ibis.

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Two monkeys...

I realised I couldn't get close enough to the glass to get a decent photo, but as it was only a variety of insects I stuck with having a reflection of me instead. This is the point at which I have my shortsleeved shirt unbuttoned.

And I think this is a hooded monkey of some sort?
Poor fella was all alone, but this place is big on conservation and as natural a life as possible for the inhabitants, so there may have been others not about. I mean it was Easter Sunday. Perhaps he'd been sent out to get the papers while everyone else lounged around eating Easter Eggs.

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Desert World.
This is where the meerkats live.

A word about meerkats.
They are undeniable sweet, and there is a series repeated ad infinitum on the satellite channels called Meerkat Manor, which follows various tribes. The fact that they are easy to anthropomorphise, live together in groups and literally look out for eachother makes them quite charming.
And capitalising on this, someone in the marketing team for a price comparison website noticed the similarity between the words market and meerkat and started a series of character based adverts. Sergei, Alexander and baby Oleg became well known to the British public. They even had the prime advert slot before Coronation Street (one of the two biggest British soap operas) which my parents follow assiduously.

So meerkats are a big deal, and a big draw.
I took quite a lot of photos here, to show Dads when I go down in May, I just know he will say, "Simples!" and suck his teeth and think himself terribly clever. I look forward to it.

In the mean time, you may not be as enamoured, but they are cute as all get out, so I had to include a couple.

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The enclosure.

And then the dim world of the night creatures.
Hard to photograph (and no, I definitely did not use a flash) but so very beautiful. I adore bats, and there were many, fluttering about actively.

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And that's it for Tropical World.
It was a relief to get out into the hazy West Yorkshire sunshine, I must admit. I doubled back to see the butterflies again, but in the end it was just so warm, and people were coming in in increasingly large numbers.

I decided to go down to Waterloo Lake, as I'd brought my duck food with me. No reason not to walk, it's not all that taxing and anyway I was enjoying space to breathe and move without fear of toppling a small child.

Only clang clang clang. The road train was coming.
Well, it's the sort of thing we never had the money to go on as children, so I couldn't just ignore it. I felt like Royalty, as all the children you pass stare and wave. But so they should, they may never see the likes of me again. Strange exotic creature that I am (I should charge).

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Roundhay Park: scenes from a (miniature) train.

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Off to Waterloo Lake.