Day 3 (December 19)

We were all ready at 8:00 A.M, so we headed out. Today we are going to Antwerp Zoo (Ecosystem). It's described as a beautiful place with an amazing range of animals/exhibits to see. We called two taxis. When we arrived at 9:00 A.M, we were jumping in joy to get inside.

Antwerp Zoo

Once we were inside, we learned that the zoo has housed over 7,500 animals and 950 species with its sister park Planckendael. Also, that it's one of the oldest zoos in the world. It was initially established by The Antwerp Royal Society for Zoology to encourage zoological and botanical sciences. Over the years, it has changed and started to encourage wildlife preservation through the activities and exhibits present.
It use to hold normal/symphonic concerts in the garden. Later, the museum building was demolished to build a concert hall. Finally, after World War II, the animal park was turned into a model zoo and conformed to the new scientific, educational, cultural, and aesthetic standards of the world. Now more than 1,000,000 people come in annually.

Sea Lion Theatre

Our first exhibit was the "Sea Lion Theatre", which features California Sea Lions. They were magnificent. They did flips and turns and high fived us on the glass separating us. Our second exhibit was the "Egyptian Temple", which features the Asian Elephants and Baringo Giraffes. The giraffes were our favorite, since they were so active and playing around with one another. The funny thing was that one of the Asian Elephants decided to poop and pee in the middle of all this happening. This made us all really laugh. The third exhibit we visited was the "Cat Enclosures", which features the Amur Leopard, Lion, Siberian Tiger, and Jaguar. They were separated between glass panes. We loved the Jaguar, since it was jumping and playing in its enclosure. All the animals were very active, which surprised us. We saw many other animals including Congo Peacocks, Zebras, African Buffalos, Two-Toes Sloths, Night Monkeys, Armadillos, and many more. Before we left the zoo, Trevor stopped in at the gift shop and got a California Sea Lion plush stuff animal. After that, we left at 5:30 P.M. We decided to go to dinner at Paul's Boutique. We called two taxis. Once we arrived at the restaurant at 6:15 P.M, and were seated we ordered water and looked on the menu. Pierce, Trevor, and Max ordered the Angus Beef Burger. Yuval and Max ordered the Chewbacca Beef Burger. When the food arrived, we devoured it. It was so good, the spice and beef in the burgers were a great mix. Its combination created a great taste.
After we left the restaurant at 7:00 P.M, we called two taxis to take us back to the De Keyser Hotel. When we got settled in our hotel, we started packing, since we were driving to another city/hotel the next day. After this was all done it was 7:30 P.M. We brushed our teeth, said our goodnights, and fell asleep.