July 14, 2013:
I take the train to Helsingborg and the a city bus out to the
zoo. Pay 100 SEK in entry fee. This weekend is the "Nordic live koishow
2013". I've never heard of koi, a carp fish bred to beautiful colors to have
in the ponds. It is organized by the association koigalen (koicrazy), one must
be crazy to deal with it. Beautiful fish swimming around in small plastic
basins. Have an interesting chat with an exhibitor, he has a pool in the
garage instead of a car. Most are hobbyists, but there are also those who
breed and sell. The most expensive cost 200 000 SEK. Beautiful they are but
not at that price for me.
Go instead and visit the goats. One may go into the pasture, popular among
kids. Much of the park are birds of different varieties and colors. I have a
friend with me who know a lot about parrots, I know nothing. Many are very
social as the galah. It's not just birds, a bunch of curious lemurs studying
the visitors. A house with idle reptiles and insects. On a leaf, a group of
poison dart frogs are settled down. If this particular species is poisonous
and used to dart poison I do not know, but I 'm not going to touch them.
More colorful parrots in an aviary. Is an orangery with butterflies and a
Chinese alligator who suspiciously looks at me. The aisles continue past
aviaries and ponds. Kapybaror or water pigs, originating in South America and
is the world's largest rodent, resting at his pond. Prairie dog eat
vegetables. It is not a dog but a squirrel. A pond harboring a flock
flamingo. In the pasture next door shows some stately crowned cranes up in
their head crowns, they belong in southern Africa. Acquaints us with a
Sulphur-crested cockatoo and a red-tailed black cockatoo. The names says
something about how they look. They seem sociable, they shout disapproval when
we finally leave them. They soon get a new crowd.
Continue past the playground and the children's zoo, we're not kids anymore so
we skip it. The kangaroos are a somewhat anxious, probably because of the
sound of the koi exhibition. Small monkeys (whose name I can not remember) are
fed with bananas to children's delight. Sweet small ones, I mean the
monkeys. It's time for a coffee at the cafe, which attracts with homemade. A
sign warns that the monkeys can pick some of the goodies. We sit down inside,
not for the risk of theft, but because we feel ruffled after the tour in the
chilly wind.
When we leave the park a cat sneak in. Is it on bird hunting?
Djurparken i Helsingborg
Koigalen
Map