So, onward to Edinburgh Zoo!! They have had a couple of Pandas which they
are hoping to breed at some point within the next 10 years as this is how long
they have them for. These Pandas are the
only ones in the country, and I know I have seen and even CUDDLED one in China,
but you can't miss a chance to see Pandas, can you? Everybody loves Pandas!
The weather was cool and slightly drizzly, but it improved
throughout the day. En route to the
Panda enclosure, we stopped off to have a look at the Meerkats, which seemed to
be the only ones out and about this early in the morning. Well, I say early.....it wasn't THAT early
but it may have been a little on the chilly side for them!
We saw BOTH Pandas when we went to the enclosure, the female
was eating breakfast being very selective with her bamboo, whilst the male was
busy scent marking his outdoor enclosure!
Apparently they have tried mating, but this year it was
unsuccessful. We spent a good half an
hour with the Pandas who were in separate enclosures as they are mostly
solitary, and if kept together they may have ended up fighting as they can be
quite terratorial.
After the Pandas we explored the rest of the Zoo, visiting
an interesting animal called a Binturong which we had never heard of
before. It was a little like a Red
Panda, only black. Very cute! Not much information was available on this
animal, but as it was a new arrival they may have been in the process of
sorting out the info boards. Later on we
googled this animal to find out that it is commonly known as the Asian Bearcat
and is a classified vulnerable species of the viverridae family which
includes civets. It originates from the
rainforests of the Far East and can live for 20 years in captivity, and is
mostly nocturnal. Its musk is often
compared to the smell of warm buttered popcorn or cornbread, and the enclosure
did smell slightly of popcorn, although I have to say there was a strong smell
of Hamster which was overpowering it a little....!!
We stopped off by the Meerkats again before going on to see
the Malaysian Sun Bears which I have never seen before, and I have to say that
they are much smaller than I expected them to be. Apparently they are the smallest species of
bear in the World. They certainly have
the longest tongue – long enough for getting inside beehives for honey and in
nooks and crannies for tasty ants. The
two bears who were in this enclosure are brothers, and they came from Cambodia,
having been rescued from the illegal pet trade.
They had been kept in small cages, too small for them to move around and
at least one of the bears had some scars to show for it. But now they seemed very happy mooching
around their enclosure which used to house the Polar bears. When we went to visit them, one was padding
around the enclosure while the other was sleeping indoors. There was a Sun Bear talk later on in the day
so we thought we would return then when they may be having some food.
We continued exploring, looking at the big cats most of
which were asleep – the lions certainly were!
Before we arrived at the lion enclosure we HEARD them growling, but they
were asleep by the time we got there. So
about 5 minutes after we left, of course they started growling again! We also visited the Koalas, ONE of which was
awake and munching but of course, had his back to us!
Back to the glossy short furred Sun bears for the talk and
sure enough, they both came out as the keeper was scattering food around for
them. We had great views of them and we
managed to get some great photos! I like
these bears!
We then had lunch in the restaurant, I had a really nice hot
chocolate to drink and before we left, we popped in to see the Rhinos which
were HUGE!! They were indoors when we
arrived, and I have never seen them quite so close up before so I was rather
impressed by their size. One of them had
a bit of fun making lots of noise whilst having a drink, perhaps he knew the
kids there would find it amusing!
In the shop Mathew found me a wooden Panda model which you
put together yourself, it was only £5 so I thought I'd take it. It looked quite good, and so did all the
other wooden animal models there but of course, I would have chosen the Panda
anyway....
On our way back to the car from the Antonine Wall, we
noticed that the Falkirk Wheel was loading up some passengers so we waited at
the top of the hill and watched it turn – I took a video. The whole rotation lasted almost 5
minutes. The Falkirk Wheel opened in
2002 and connects 2 canals which were previously connected by a series of 11
locks which had fallen out of use in the 1930s.
The difference in height between the 2 canals in 22 metres, and if
travelling up, there are 2 more locks to go through to reach the very top – 2
of the 11 which were previously used.
The reason why they couldn't build it to the very top is because it
would have destroyed part of the Antonine Wall.
Back in the car, we continued on to Kerrann B+B in
Stirling which didn't take us long to get to, although we went around a few
more roundabouts than the directions mentioned and more than we expected, but
we got there in the end. The owner told
us they had a quilting workshop around the back, which we were welcome to
investigate, although it was a little too late to have a look when we arrived,
but as we were staying for 2 nights we thought we would have a look tomorrow.
Our host then showed us a menu for a place called “The Birds
and Bees” which is a very popular pub
nearby which does very good food.
We liked the menu so he booked us a table (in the fashion of 'we know
people who know people'!) and gave us a voucher for 10% off our meal. I thought the Aberdeen Angus Steak sounded
very tempting!
The steak was indeed very good! Although I couldn't eat the BIGGEST grilled tomato I have ever seen, nor all of the GIANT mushroom. I didn't eat many of the chips, but I had all the other veg...! Mathew had the lamb which was in a rich sauce on some mash. We were stuffed and decided not to have dessert, despite having seen several desserts being served. It was time to go back to our B+B and let it all digest before having a good nights’ sleep.
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