Bohemian Rhapsodizing: Zoo Praha

We love a good zoo. What isn't to love? The fresh air, the animals, the junk food. And the Zoo Praha ranks right up there with the best. Literally. Forbes ranked it number seven in the world a few years back and it consistently gets mentioned as one of the top things to do when visiting Prague. Quite an amazing feat when you consider all of the sights it has to compete with in an ancient, historic city like Prague.

Consider me intrigued.

Last Saturday we had a break in the rain that heralds Spring here in Europe. We made a quick decision to head out after an early lunch and visit with some wildlife. The zoo is only about a 20 minute drive from the house so we thought we would be visiting the animals by noon. We were wrong. We had been warned to get there early, as the parking fills up immediately and the lines to get in could get pretty long. We thought this was advice, not necessity. But when we got there at noon, we were lucky to find close parking and had to wait in line for 25 minutes to purchase our tickets. Next time, we will listen and get there right at opening time.

Once we made our way inside we were immediately greeted by ponies and men offering rides. We declined and opted for a photo op on the steel ponies instead as we had a lot of ground to cover.

The Zoo Praha is sprawling (45 hectares of exhibits with over 8 miles of walking trails). And yet, somehow, it feels intimate. I could only guess that it is because the exhibits are built so that you feel like you are among the animals, not just peering at them from behind the fence. They make you a part of each exhibit and there are few railing keeping you back, except at all but the most dangerous of animals. And even if the animal is behind glass or rails, you can still get nose pressing close. The girls loved it, though we had a hard time teaching them that even though they could get close, climbing the railings to get even closer, was probably not the best of ideas...

We wandered around the Elephant and Giraffe exhibits (both newly renovated). We stopped and checked out the penguins and the tigers. We took a train ride and played on the kids playground with the goats just wandering past. We entered the jungle and it was hot, humid and had bats flying freely. Yep, bats. Literally flying around above your head. We sailed above it all on the chair lift and took in some incredible views. We saw dragons (the Komodo kind) and monkeys and birds and snakes and fish. We spent all afternoon wandering the pathways and meandering down the side alley's and we could easily have spent another day before we saw it all. I guess that just means that a trip back is in order. Soon.