Ended January with a little panda weekend – back to Zoo Berlin to see the cutie twins and make use of my annual pass again! This time I wasn’t alone, I had my mum and sister tag along. My mum has been to Berlin a few times with me before, but this was my sisters first trip to Berlin and also first time seeing pandas other than the Edinburgh Zoo pair, and first time seeing cubs too! Plus they were in the snow, what luck (because I had to wait years for that)! I decided to treat my mum and sister to an early morning private panda tour, so we had time to ourselves with the pandas, so it was very special =D
Continue Reading “Exclusive PANDA viewing at Zoo Berlin ~ experiencing an early morning PANDA tour”Exclusive PANDA viewing at Zoo Berlin ~ experiencing an early morning PANDA tour
An unexpected SNOWY PANDA VISIT at Ouwehands Dierenpark
Well this was a surprise indeed! On my way home from my New Years trip to Shanghai, I got stuck in the Netherlands by the snowy conditions. I got off my flight from Shanghai to find out that pretty much all flights out were cancelled, and the app rebooked me for 2 days later. I’m really glad that I’m pretty well travelled and now am a lot more relaxed about things – it wasn’t the end of the world and it didn’t need me to be dramatic about it! Now I did end up being there for 5 days, but I made the most of it, and I know I was in a lucky position being able to firstly get into the country easily (was travelling on my Irish passport luckily, so didn’t have to wait in the crazy long non-EU line), and having funds to hand to be able to survive extra days away from home. To note, it took almost 3 months to get notified that I would be reimbursed, and it was not quite the full amount I submitted receipts for. But it’s fine, and I got to see pandas in the snow!
Continue Reading “An unexpected SNOWY PANDA VISIT at Ouwehands Dierenpark”Snapshots from Shanghai Zoo CHINA, January 2026
There are plenty of animals to see at the Shanghai Zoo besides the pandas – it’s a smart move putting the pandas as far as you can from the entrance, it means you have to walk past at least several other animals before getting to them! So of course, I saw some other animals. Now I didn’t find the zoo quite as impressive as the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, but I would still return if it fitted my schedule – priced at 40RMB, it’s not too expensive of a day out and it’s a huge park to explore and relax in.
P A N D A S @ S H A N G H A I Z O O CHINA, January 2026
Started 2026 how I mean to go on – with pandas! I spent the 1st of January 2026 visiting the pandas at Shanghai Zoo, yep, there’s 2 places in Shanghai that you can see pandas^ The Shanghai Zoo currently has 2 pandas on show, but over the years have hosted many pandas, including some that have gone on to live internationally. Let’s get on in to see the pandas:
Shanghai Wild Animal Park CHINA, December 2025
I managed to pull myself away from the pandas a few times to go and see what else Shanghai Wild Animal Park has to offer – they have a huge range of animals here and the park is giant, so spread out, lots to see, and lots of steps to count for the day (I totalled 25,000 that day)!
