For our very last day in Amsterdam we checked out ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, in the eastern part of the city. We took a quick tram and then a short walk and we were there in no time. Well, about 30 minutes.
Our first stop was the Bird House, which is about five houses all in a row. The first three are connected inside with long, thick vines strung from the ceiling and branching off in all directions. That’s because the rooms also have several monkeys that swung and climbed, ran and jumped along the vines, as birds hopped on the ground or flew among the rafters. We loved how much the animals could roam.
The next two rooms are separate from the first three and much cooler in temperature. They have rocks along the back and front of the enclosure, with more rocks, plants, and pools of water throughout the centre. The birds had food laid out in little platters among the plants, but they also caught small fish in the water – and looked like they were having lots of fun hunting for them.
The zoo’s Asian elephant enclosure was just as amazing. It has lots of different areas the elephants can hang out in including sand, mud, and water they could step down into for swimming. We watched as a zookeeper tossed bits of red vegetables all over the sandy parts of the enclosure, launched red apples into their swimming area, and dragged long, thin branches of leaves close to their trunks so they could pick them up and strip off the leaves and tender bits of the branches. They seemed pretty happy.
We really enjoyed walking along the zoo’s curving paths that led all around enclosures, even around back so we could see the animals from different vantage points.
When we stopped for lunch, the restaurant had mostly vegetarian and vegan options, which was fantastic, and we got to sit outside and watch zebras and giraffes walk around their enclosures while we munched on tasty pizzas.
In the afternoon, we saw mouse-deers, which we also saw in Copenhagen Zoo, but discovered for the first time in Singapore Zoo. They are the absolutely cutest animals ever.
We also saw a new animal we’ve never seen before – Patagonian Mara, who kind of look like a cross between a small deer and a rabbit. Are they cuter than the mouse deer? Maybe…
We left the zoo by about 4pm and decided to walk over to the Science Museum, where you can walk up some wide stairs from the outside all the way to the top of it and view Amsterdam from a slightly higher vantage point. There are lounge-y seats built into the stairs, and a small waterfall and set of fountains that little kids can play in.
Next, we walked a few minutes to Vegan Sushi Bar, where we had three different kinds of maki and rolls, including some deep fried ones! All of them were delicious – and the fried ones were my favourite.
After a quick trip to pick up our bags at our hotel, we jumped on a bus to an airport hotel we’re staying at for tonight, before our flight home to Canada tomorrow.
Our trip to Copenhagen, Oslo and Amsterdam was magnificent! We loved each city for so many different reasons and we’d love to return to each of them to explore them even more. And have more sushi. And ramen. And sorbet…
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