Zoos and More!

May, 19 2011

Our first zoo of the program! On Tuesday, we took a train to Cologne and began our day with a trip to the zoo.  We got to see the new "hippodome", which was quite impressive. We also saw a variety of other animals including many birds, a cheetah, bison, Przewalski’s horses (a wild horse native to Mongolia), okapis, lemurs, Bactrian camels, great apes, and elephants.  In the elephant exhibit, there was a one-month old baby.  He was adorable! They also had the animal version of Body Worlds, which was really interesting! I was hoping they would have more species, but the animals they did use were amazingly preserved and arranged.  In the afternoon, we took a rooftop tour of the Cologne Cathedral.  It was AMAZING! Everyone who goes to Cologne must do it, although I'm sure the people in our group who are afraid of heights might disagree with me.  It was such a unique way of seeing the cathedral and we had such great views of the city as well. 

Wednesday night, we took a train to Berlin.  This morning, we began at the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.  One of the scientists from the institute showed us around and told us about what he and his colleagues do. He also taught us how to use a blow dart!  I wasn't a great shot, but some of the other people in our group were great.  Afterwards, we went to the Berlin Zoo and took a tour with one of their vets! He was a great tour guide, I just wish we had gotten to see their clinic at the zoo.  Following our zoo trip, we took a bike tour of Berlin.  I have got to say, bicycles are the greatest way to see a city (as long as the cars are bike friendly).  You can go anywhere that pedestrians go, but you can get around much faster.  Maneuvering around traffic can be a little annoying, but it's all well worth it.