Dublin zoo is the largest zoo from Ireland. This is located beside the Phoenix park and very easy to access. This is an ideal place for family tour with kids as the place is very rich with different animals from different parts of the world. A traveler from outside Ireland may consider the place to spend time as well. Even if you want to make a quick walk around the zoo it would take around 3 hours minimum.
Autumn and winter is very difficult time in Ireland for traveling being short day length. Also the sudden rain and gloomy weather do not encourage us to go for a outdoor trip. That’s why in one autumn we’ve decoded to visit the Dublin zoo. Our plan was to view the animals which we have never gotten a chance before in other zoos. Besides we wanted to visit the Dublin zoo before fading out the memory of Edinburgh zoo.
The big cats such as Tiger, Lion, Leopard, etc along with and other hunting predators like wolves were at the left side after the entrance inside the Dublin zoo. After visiting them we’ve gone near to the Flamingo. I like the Flamingo birds, and it is never easy to see them in wild. So the zoo are my only option at this moment. In Dublin zoo you can enter inside the Flamingo cage and spend some time with the small group of birds.
The Penguin section and the Californian sea lion section is side by side. While we were inside the zoo the caretaker for the Sea lion was demonstrating the health check for the animal. By the name of routine check the Sea lion was performing for the visitors as well. He was given a big fish each time he has done a routine. It was lovely to watch him doing it. He was slightly slower in ground, but extremely fast inside water.
The African section of the zoo is quite big and have plenty of space for the visitors to walk. They have the Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, Okapi, and plenty more. A mother Rhinoceros has given a birth last week. We were really happy to see the baby Rhinoceros. It was so cute, and never left the mummy alone. The Hippopotamus was having a very small pool for his swimming (I didn’t like that small pool). He was jumping and swimming on that pool like a king of his own.
Being a shorter day length when we have reached near the other animals like Okapi, Elephants, etc, they were already gone inside the house. Also we were running out of time as it closes early during autumn and winter. I really wanted to see the Okapi as half of it looks like zebra but actually it is closer to Giraffe. This nice little animal is native to Congo.
Beside the animal showcases, the Dublin zoo has plenty of space inside. It has several lakes. Being winter I guess we’ve gotten a chance to see some free birds (which are a visitor to the Dublin zoo). Also during the autumn the color of tree gets yellowish and reddish. The trees around the lake and their reflection in water was making the place a wild one. I was not feeling like I was in a city.
How to Go:
Dublin zoo is located beside the Phoenix park. You can reach there using the bus 46a from the O’Connel street. Also the zoo is just 10 minutes of walking distance from the Heuston station. Gps coordinate for the entrance of Dublin zoo is (53°21’10.4″N, 6°18’17.1″W).
Opening hours:
Opening hours for the Dublin zoo varies from season to season. During the summer it opens till 6:00pm where as during other season it can get closed at 4:00pm. You can find the opening hours for the zoo from their website.
Dublin zoo,
Phoenix park,
Dublin,
Ireland,
GPS Coordinate (53°21’10.4″N, 6°18’17.1″W)
List of hotels nearby.
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://alonelytraveler.com/
Sunday, 19 November 2017
