Before coming to Berlin, I would have never guessed that there was a large zoo in the city. The Berlin zoo is not what most people think of when they think of Berlin. When I first saw the zoo I thought it was neat that there was one so close to urban area. A zoo next to apartments seems like it wouldn’t work, but somehow it works. The zoo is pretty much integrated into the city. There is a river that runs parallel to the zoo that one could walk. While strolling along the path you could get glimpses of the animals such as the birds without even having to pay.
Since the beginning I was interested in visiting the zoo at some point during my stay. I ended going to the zoo with my roommate. He and I went on a Wednesday morning and spent most of the day there. I hadn’t been to the zoo for a long time. The last time I went I was too young to remember it so I can’t really give a comparison between the experiences.
The zoo was well worth the 15 euros that I payed. It would would have been a little bit more, but we got a lower price since we were students. The admissions price even came with entrance to the aquarium, which was also really cool.
The best part about the zoo is how close you are to the animals. Throughout the zoo there isn’t much that stands between you and the animal. It might seem kind of scary, but the animals are used to the humans and won’t attack. Coming from California, I have to say that the brown bear feeding was the most impressive to me. The bear would stand up on its hind legs until the zoo keeper fed it a piece of fish. The bear was massive. It had to be at least 10 ft tall.
Other animals that stood out were a huge lion, California seals, rhinos, gorillas, and elephants.
