Birds of a Feather…

…flock together. I guess that’s why Manni and I, once again (a few weeks after our trip to Karl’s), found ourselves on another outing. This time the journey went to the “Vogelpark Marlow“ (bird park).

Unlike last time, we had planned ahead, though; we had planned how to get there, packed some snacks and drinks, and got up a little earlier than we usually would have on a Sunday.

We took my scooter again, and the 40km-trip from Rostock took us about an hour —shouldn’t be more than 40 minutes by car— and we arrived at the park some time after 10.

We picked up a flyer with the map and times for special events at the entrance — there are several opportunities to watch the keepers feeding the animals, as for instance the pelicans, the otters, white storks, etc., and talk about them — and off we went. Lucky for us, the first event, the feeding of the pelicans, was scheduled for 10:30, and we didn’t have to wait too long.

Right after that came the feeding of the storks, whose habitat is only a few steps away from the pelicans’. After watching the storks devour some poor chicks — so much for the nice, friendly, child-bringing birds’ image — we continued along the route of consecutively numbered cages and enclosures. You don’t have to go by the numbers but it makes orientation in the big park much easier, and you won’t miss anything.

Strolling through the beautifully landscaped, we stopped from time to time to look at all the different animals: parrots, birds of prey, flamingos, penguins, cranes, black and white swans; but also kangaroos, lemurs, prairie dogs, and the usual petting zoo animals (goats, bunnies, sheep, etc.).

I’ll give up the stage for Manni now:

The Vogelpark is a wonderful huge green park (22 ha). It is very clean and family friendly. On the way through it which will take you about four hours, I’d say — without watching any shows or feedings or making big lunch breaks — there are enough possibilities to take little snacks and drinks and also some adventurous, funny play grounds for your kids.

 

Some impressions of the beautiful landscape
Some impressions of the beautiful landscape

Landscape

Landscape 3

A pirate-ship as a playground — ship ahoy, kids!
A pirate-ship as a playground — ship ahoy, kids!
A labyrinth – Try to find your way out!
A labyrinth – Try to find your way out!

My favourite animals were the cute, funny, crazy Keas which look very sweet but a bit like thick, woollen, broken garden gnomes 😀 They are only approx. 40-45 cm long. They only eat exotic fruit — very healthy — and they look really innocent, but if you take a look behind the curtain, you can see the real face of these truly deceitful and sharp birds which behave mischievously whenever they can and nobody watches them! If you don’t beware of these birds they’ll hack your whole beloved car into little pieces — just with their little but unbelievably sharp beak. Fortunately, they are endemic to the New Zealand Mountains.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a kea
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a kea
Another Kea, having lunch
Another Kea, having lunch

Lizzie here, again:

Somewhere in the middle of the park, we came to the “Lori-Bar“. Don’t let the name lead you astray, though; it is not a bar where humans can sit down and sip cocktails. It is a bar where you can purchase a small cup of nectar for 50ct to feed them to small parrots called Loris. Feeding birds might not sound all that exciting, but believe me, the little cheerful birds are quite cheeky; if you are patient, they will even climb onto your hand to get better access to their sweet treat. It is definitely worth spending the 50ct on a drink 🙂

Have a drink with your buddies at the Lori-Bar
Have a drink with your buddies at the Lori-Bar

If you’d rather leave the action to someone else, you can go watch one of the several shows that are put on at different times every day. Manni and I were just in time to watch the “Tiershow“ (animal show).

The setting of the amazing animal show
The setting of the amazing animal show

And here are Manni’s impressions of the show:

One part on your list of things you definitely should have seen while visiting the Vogelpark is the amazing animal show which is shown regularly along with the air show (of birds). I was really astonished at how well animals can be trained by humans. The animal show is really informative and takes about an hour, I would assume … (Sorry, I forgot to take the time)

They tell you a lot about the shown animals, e.g., how they are named, how big they are, what they eat, etc. Did you know that the beak of a pelican is so big that nearly the whole arm of a grown-up human fits into it? Amazing! They try to make it interesting for the kids as well by encouraging them to become a part of the show. During the show Lizzie and I have watched I remember all the little kids sitting on the grounds with open hands full of food for all the little ducks, and as the ducks were set free, the eyes of these kids just began to shine so bright as if the next chocolate-strawberry-cookie-monster would bring them lovely sweets.
It was just awesome! Sometimes we didn’t know where to look first. On the one hand you saw the macaws flying franticly through the crowd while on the other hand the huge pink pelicans should fly straight through the crowd but rather liked to practice being Germany’s next top model 😉

The two wild macaws
The two wild macaws
Our next top models
Our next top models

Flying Pelican

After the show was over we continued our stroll along the numbered path and — after a funny encounter with a rather ballsy, glasses-stealing parrot along the way — headed slowly for the exit.

Manni’s bottom-line:

The trip to the Vogelpark was my absolute highlight compared to all the other funny and crazy journeys with Lizzie! The Vogelpark is like a big zoo, but way more exciting and just stunning!

Lizzie’s conclusion:

It was a really fun day (which we topped off with some ice cream at the lovely, hidden treasure “Café Kuhstall” on our way home), and I would definitely recommend a trip to the Vogelpark to anyone who likes animals, green parks, or who wants to spend a nice day with family, friends, or just searches the company of other like-minded strange birds 😉

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