23 August Off to the Zoo

27th Wedding Anniversary today! Ian flies in tonight with Amy and Freddie so it'll be the whole family together 😊.

Today Peter had the day off so we went to the zoo! Peter is a frequent visitor for his photography hobby so has membership. Just a short drive towards Edinburgh down the M8 and we arrived at opening time.

A lovely bright day for our visit.

We spent the whole day there and managed to see quite a few animals that aren't normally active or out. 

One of the first places we visited was to see the new cheetah who's only arrived at Edinburgh a few weeks ago. She's still settling in so not easy to see at the mo. 

Surprisingly there's an albino penguin as part of the penguin collection (the only one in captivity and still going at the ripe old age of 28). Peter didn't even know it was there despite visiting the penguins several times previously. When we initially saw it we thought it was just a young one as he was pale in colour. However the keeper told us about 'Snowflake' and also how none of his off spring to date had been albino.

Peter takes some pretty nifty photos.

There's even a house for the smaller members of the zoo community - stick insects, fish and bugs.

Edinburgh Zoo is built on a hill so a bit of a climb to the top but great to get there to see the giraffes and a great view.

The first time we visited the sloths in the morning they were fast asleep. Their keeper advised us to return later in the afternoon when they were likely to be more active. They were! Clambering about the enclosure above our heads on the rope bridge and getting food.

Another suprise for Peter was that the kangaroos and wallabies were leaping about in their walk through enclosure. He said he normally sees quite a few wallabies but only one kangaroo. What was amazing was that their was a joey wallaby and kangaroo in their mum's pouches. Very cute.

Anyway a marvellous day. And we kept dry with the rain staying away the whole time we were there 😀.

A late night tonight with an airport pick up this evening. Then a busy day tomorrow as we head into Edinburgh for Fringe events.