and finally....Atlanta and pandas

Atlanta

We travelled overnight on the Amtrak Crescent in a sleeper compartment (more about Amtrak in a separate blog). Got to our hotel in Atlanta at 10.30 am hoping we could drop our bags off (check in is usually 3 pm) but the very kind receptionist said we could check into our room as it was ready - result.

Had a bit of a lie down and then set off exploring the area. Atlanta has loads to do. It's the home of CNN, Coca Cola and the world's largest aquarium. I'm afraid we just wandered round looking at the shops and buildings and checking out the bars because this was not what we had come to Atlanta for.

Our last full day in USA

The big attraction for us (and by us I mean me) was Zoo Atlanta and the pandas.

http://www.zooatlanta.org/

The zoo has teamed up with Checker taxis to provide free taxis to the zoo from downtown hotels so we got one of these in the morning. I had booked the panda "wild encounter" which is where you get to go "backstage" - that is, behind the scenes of the panda enclosures to meet the keepers and one of the pandas. It cost $160 each and was worth every penny. As I was ridiculously excited we were there early but this gave us chance to see pandas before we met the Education Team. Yang Yang was having a doze (surprise)

Mei Huan and Mei Lun were messing around (as three year old siblings tend to do)

Up to 8 people at a time can join the panda wild encounter but we were lucky enough to be the only 2 so it felt like a private tour.

We were given a chance to go behind the enclosures and see where the bamboo is kept and how it is weighed so they monitor each pandas' intake. We saw a freezer full of samples of panda poo and urine (I've spared you the photo but believe me there is one - what hubby lacks in interest in pandas he makes up for with an interest in photography) and finally we got to meet - Lun Lun.

The lab coat and gloves are to protect the panda from any germs you may be carrying - not you from the panda. Fetching aren't they?

The tour is supposed to last around 45 minutes but we were there well over an hour chatting about all things panda. I'm lucky enough to have seen pandas all over the world including the panda centre in China where the 2 adult pandas in Atlanta came from so we were all swapping stories of experiences there.

After the tour we went and looked at ...you've guessed it ....the pandas. Yang Yang was wide awake now and put on quite a show playing with his food bowl

The sisters hadn't tired themselves out either and they were pushing each other on the swing

So Zoo Atlanta - big thumbs up from me. Had to pay to get in, unlike Washington, but for this reason and also the fact that it was mid week, it was a lot quieter. Atlanta gets very hot and the Zoo plans for this with air conditioned exhibits, plenty of drinking water fountains and misting showers to cool you off. Many of the animals are in air conditioning too. This zoo had a really nice feel to it - and better shops! It also offered the chance to have a "wild encounter" with other animals like tigers,elephants and tortoises etc. We rang for a free taxi back to the hotel and that arrived no problem - excellent service.

All in all this was the perfect end to a perfect trip.

Sadly the next day the only trip we took was to the airport for our flight home. It was a fabulous holiday but now I just want to make like a panda and relax!

Pandas in Washington National Zoo

There are 4 zoos in USA that have pandas; San Diego, Memphis, Atlanta and the National Zoo Washington. I went to San Diego in 2013 and will visit Atlanta on this trip. Memphis will have to be part of the next trip. I'm not suggesting I plan all holidays to revolve around pandas but it's nice when it works out. Come to think of it a lot of my holidays have been to countries with pandas; Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Scotland - moving swiftly on....

The National Zoo in Washington is part of the Smithsonian Institution, a group of museums and research centres run by the US government. This means, as with all Smithsonian facilities, entrance to the zoo is free. It is a short metro (subway / underground/ tube) ride to the zoo and there are 2 stops you could get off at. One is called Woodley Park / Zoo and the other is Cleveland Park. They are both the same distance from the entrance to the zoo, on the same road (Connecticut Avenue) but the walk from Cleveland is more downhill. They say the whole zoo is on a hill but after having been to Edinburgh Zoo to see the pandas I would describe this zoo as being on more of a slight incline - however, it's good to be prepared and on the day we visited it was very hot so every little bit of energy saved helps! Take water!

The pandas are quite near the entrance and are seen via an easily accessible walkway which passes the outside areas then goes in to the inside enclosures.

To find out the details about all the pandas here the zoo has a great website - it also has a panda cam!

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

On the day we visited there were 2 pandas on view Mei Xiang (who was inside initially doing exactly what you expect from a panda!)

and her baby Bei Bei who was born 2015. When we arrived Mei Xiang was inside and Bei Bei was outside up a tree. We went up to the Panda Cafe where there is a great view down into the outside enclosures and we had a pretty good view of him

until he came down from the tree in typical panda style - climbed half the distance - fell the rest

Anyone who's watched youtube clips of panda antics knows they bounce - really well - so Bei Bei was fine. His mum came and checked him out all the same but decided he was ok and left him to try and recover his dignity alone.

After this it was quite hot so the pandas took themselves off to the shade and assumed the usual sleepy panda stance. We felt quite lucky to have seen all this activity and interaction as pandas are not known for their energy (check out the Kit Kat panda advert to see what I mean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnQKET83qKg )

We went off and checked out the shop and food court. We were here on a Saturday and entrance to this zoo is free so it was understandably busy when we were here. I wasn't overly impressed with the selection of "panda items" I could get but then I sometimes can be a bit too panda focused and forget there are other animals that are worthy of our attention. I also thought the food and gifts were quite expensive but if you balance that with the fact that you haven't paid to get in I suppose it makes sense. I managed to buy a few things anyway so I felt I'd contributed to the zoos income (and my collection of  pandaphernalia). 

This zoo doesn't have any opportunities to go behind the scenes with the pandas - for that we have to go to Atlanta and my next blog.....