Munich Zoo April, 2007

We spent the day at the zoo in Munich and it was truly amazing. I have always wanted to see an elephant show ever since I was a little girl and I finally watched one. It didn't disappoint us either ... the elephants rolled tires, lifted their trunks on cue, moved logs, posed on a boulder, crossed their legs, and walked holding trunks with each other. The main elephant stood only 20 feet from us with her trainer, while he described everything about her. Before the show even began the elephants walked over to a mud hole and took turns spraying themselves with mud and water. It was so cool and luckily we got it on video. Of course I went crazy and took dozens of pictures. Thank goodness for digital photography.

Sharice was so excited that we got to see a live seal show as well! The seals jumped through hoops, balanced balls on their noses (big and small), jumped up to touch a ball on a pole, balanced on a beam, caught hoops around their neck, and honked really loud to receive their fishy treats. Earlier on the seals paraded around on a pool deck in a separate tank area next door. They would hop out of the water and then slide across the deck towards their trainer, while making loud barking noises. He would then toss a fish into their mouths.

At the Munich Zoo you have the opportunity to pay $120 Euro, so you and a friend can meet your favorite animal. Brittany wants to save up her money to meet a penguin and of course Jerret wants to meet a monkey.

Oh my gosh speaking of monkeys I had a very interesting experience with a chimpanzee. He came up to the glass and sat down, so I put my hand on the glass beside him. He looked at me then he started to do sign language with me! I was so amazed and touched that he would communicate with me. We did the same hand sequences over and over again, so I know he was either trying to teach me something or tell me something. Every time anyone else would put their hands on the glass he would thump at them loudly and turn back to me to continue. We must have sat there for over 10 minutes. I stopped playing with him at one point so he put his foot on the glass and turned away. It took him a few minutes to get over his anger and then he played with me again. They are incredibly smart and this once in a lifetime experience changed me. We didn't get this on film, because Darcy couldn't find me (I had a crowd of people all around me watching as I sat with him). We got a still photo of him that we'll put on the website.

There was an aquarium part to the zoo as well with an octopus, sea horses, eels, and all types of fish. Sharice used all of her special camera modes to capture the unique sea life. She ended up with some very nice shots. Another experience they offer at the zoo is to ride on a two humped camel. We missed the boat on that one though, because we were too busy doing so many other things. What a rewarding day and it was enjoyable for the whole family.

Afterwards we went to downtown Munich and ate at a fast food joint. Don't laugh, in Canada they are on every corner but in Europe you are hard pressed to find anything but a Macdonald's. We went to Burger King : ). They had these special slushies that the kids were thrilled to have, because they miss their 7-11 slurpies. We experienced a bit of an October fest in April. There were some 4 piece bands playing at the local pubs and a lot of drunk German folk laughing and singing. Darcy and I might travel back to Munich by train to participate in the upcoming October Fest'.

Lisa Allen

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