In June I decided to go for another panda daytrip to Ouwehands Dierenpark again! It very much worked the same as last time, getting the earliest flight out of Edinburgh to Amsterdam, and the latest flight back – another 22 hour day, but worth it for some panda time^
Timing-wise it was the same as last time, but this time there weren’t construction works on the train lines, so I could take the quicker train from the airport, and arrived at the zoo at 10:30AM, and stayed all the way until 4:45PM when I headed for the train back to the airport. My only ‘complaint’ this time was the cost of the flights, compared with going in February, this daytrip was quite expensive due to the higher cost of the flights, but of course, the effect of Summer! I did luck out with the weather though and it was a very nice day, this has been one of the busier days that I’ve seen at Ouwehands, so sometimes couldn’t quite get in to the ideal spot for photos but overall I made it work – and while it was busy it certainly wasn’t nearly as busy as seeing pandas in China.
Not much has changed with the pandas since my February visit, except this time there was a few new panda merch items (hoodies specifically of Wu Wen and Xing Ya) and also the Pandasia restaurant was open (I’d prepared for there not to be too many options, so I brought lunch with me, so a lunch option for next time!).
Xing Ya 星雅
Sweet boy Xing Ya 星雅 treated me with being outside again on this visit – he was making the most of the nice weather! Xing Ya was very active across the day, much more than on my February visit. He was also really enjoying his enrichment options, the knotted together firehose was very popular and I later saw Wu Wen enjoying her one of these too. And his black bucket also looked well-loved given how chewed it was^ But seeing him outside and so happy outside was the absolute highlight, and he spent a while out there too. And what was nice (for me, and probably him too) was that it was never super busy or crowded around his yard when he was outside, meaning I could get a good spot to stand and there wasn’t too much noise from visitors to disturb him. Another great set of pictures I got was of him searching in the branches of one of his indoor trees for his tiny cubed treats (carrot and maybe panda cake), he was so delicate looking for them and taking them, especially when they were so tiny! And I was almost the only person there to see. And just how adorable is he lounging in his long grass to enjoy his bamboo?! What a sweetie^
Wu Wen 武雯 + Lang Yue 朗月
I spent a lot of time at Wu Wen 武雯 and Lang Yue 朗月 on this visit, and much like Xing Ya, the pair were very active across the whole day. They were inside initially when I got there but breakfast time was already over so they were walking around and Lang Yue was keen on playing with Wu Wen, who just wanted a rest I think! Lang Yue‘s climbing shenanigans were pretty cute and everyone watching was enjoying her swinging upside down in the branches. Lang Yue also enjoyed her ball enrichment which had some treats hidden inside, and then it was time for outside time! Both girls went out and had both time together and separate time, and being outside was very much focussed on eating. Wu Wen was looking absolutely beautiful sat up on one of the platforms enjoying her bamboo, and having some peace as Lang Yue didn’t join her there. Lang Yue enjoyed some exploring through the grasses and plants and I was so pleased to get some pictures of this as she was loving creeping about, and then the pair sat next to each other for the next bamboo sitting^ They were very well behaved and enjoying bamboo separately until Wu Wen wanted what Lang Yue was eating XD After time outside the pair rested inside for quite a few hours, and I headed back later in the afternoon when they were eating inside again and winding down for the day.
I noticed on this visit how similar in size the two were, Lang Yue is quickly becoming difficult to distinguish from mum, particularly when you only see one of them at a time it can be tricky to know who you are watching!
