The Bioparc (Part 1)

Monday left us with limited options. Drizzly weather would be ideal for museums, but being a Monday they were all closed. So we opted for the Bioparc which is really more of a fine weather choice, but beggars can't be choosers. And the weather did have one great advantage - other people were put off by it. Especially families with young kids. When we arrived out front there were barriers set out like airport check-in desks to ensure an orderly snaking queue. But while there were barriers, there was no queue. Not a soul. The lonely girl at the ticket office did warn us that because of the weather we might not see all the animals. But at least what they had we would have to ourselves!

The Bioparc was absolutely terrific in my view. A sort of cross between a zoo and a safari park. Well, yes, it is a zoo, but one laid out with a lot of thought to give the animals as much space as possible in a naturalistic background as is compatible with them being visible to the viewing public. As you can tell from the enormous number of photos I have taken, I adored the place!

No, these are not real - models in a tiny museum

Tunnels (no doubt concrete) made to look like caves had glass tanks to hold smaller critters like the chameleon above

There was rain so some animals took the wise choice to shelter at the back of their enclosures

Watching the hippos under water was fun, although unfortunately one does get the reflection of the cameraman in the photos!

Giant tortoises, of which they had a number of species

They also have lions. And you don't see them through the bars of a cage. They are skillfully contained so in part you can see them open air and part through glass portholes.

And the extra stroke of genius, they put their cafeterias next to a lake which acted as a moat between us and the wildlife, which nevertheless we could witch from our lunch table. And given the drizzle, we had no problem getting a prime table. Indeed we could have had any table we wanted!