31st August 2011 8pm, Paignton

The weather today was perfect. Although it was overcast, I can say it was perfect. Perfect weather to go to the zoo. I like zoos...

I have been to a fair share of zoos and so I know that they are very popular and usually pretty crowded. That is why I decided to go very early in the morning, right when the gate opens, so as to avoid the masses that will eventually come pouring in later in the day. I was very proud of my clever idea and set off at 9 o'clock to be there by 9:30 when the zoo opens its gates and where I would be among the firsts to get in. - I was standing in the queue for 25 minutes! It would appear I wasn't alone with my clever idea...

People knowing me might be aware that I love monkeys. To those people it may not be surprising when I say that I spent more than an hour observing the different primates; something other people might think is weird. Indeed, I watched the monkeys for a long time and wondered if it were preferable to one (I'm 49% YES and 51% NO on this one). Of course, I eventually went on to see other animals. The lions sat at the other end of their enclosure and showed only their backs and bottoms to the zoo-goers, whereas the tigers didn't bother to show up at all. One of the cheetahs, however, once came fairly close but then quickly made for the woods when one of these stupid kids banged on the glass. Although I'm writing about tigers and monkeys, the most interesting species to observe is the kids. Notable among this species is the great diversity both in physiognomy and behaviour. They come in a variety of shapes, they have different colours of fur; some look nothng like their parents while others are exact miniature versions of them. They also show very diverse behaviour. Some bang on the glass, others are very quiet; some drop their ice-cream and some bump into you while walking backwards. Common behaviour includes a desire to move constantly and run about mindlessly. And one of those kids thought the big gorilla was made of rubber, an assumption simply based on the observation that he wasn't moving. Shh, parents, tell your kids: That's called 'sleep'...

Keep walking...

johnniewalker