I'm going to start writing up more bits of my trip. I've had a little bit of a block since getting back, but hopefully I can push through it.
When researching flights from Shanghai to Hanoi, I found to my delight that the cheapest flight had a stopover in Hong Kong. Furthermore, Hong Kong Airlines allow you to tailor the exact flights so I was able to stretch my time there to 15 hours. As a UK passport holder I had no problems with visas; I can't remember the exact situation for others.
This post will consist of two parts: a review of Hong Kong Zoo, and a brief account of the rest of my day, including general musings on the city.
I landed at HK airport at midnight and grabbed 5 hours sleep under a bench. Then I got the train into the city centre, arriving at 6.40. A brisk 10 minute walk uphill and out of the financial district took me to the gates of the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Because the zoo is a public park it opens at 6am, allowing me a quick visit before I explored the rest of the city.
The zoo is split in two by a road, with an access tunnel between the two halves. One half is primarily devoted to primates, and the other to birds. I did the primate half first and in fact I arrived early enough that I had to wait 15 minutes for it to get light enough to read signs, take pictures and see the inhabitants!
By and large the primate enclosures weren't too impressive. Some were undersized for their inhabitants although many were reasonable. They were fairly simple cages with branches and other climbing equipment inside. With the exception of the largest ones, they lacked natural substrate. I've seen worse both in and out of Europe, but I think these would generally be criticized if they were found in a UK zoo.
It’s probably worth talking a little about the Bornean Orangutan enclosures. At first glance these looked pretty poor. Of a similar design to the other primate enclosures, but scaled up somewhat. Notably they had reinforced roofs that look very reminiscent of London’s Sobells. They were a little dingy and undersized, but at least had some natural substrate. Indoor quarters were off-show, but looked to be very limited in size. Despite this after a little consideration I decided I had seen far worse. The enclosures obviously benefit from the tropical climate, which removes some of the need for indoor facilities. The roof provided a lot of brachiating possibilities, as well as allowing the apes full use of the space. Overall, although it was a bit of an eyesore, I think it provided a better environment for the orangutans than many of the ‘islands/posts/ropes’ exhibits that are so common in the West.
There were several repeat enclosures, and quite a lot of young animals; this seems to be a zoo that is breeding regularly. In particular there were two large groups of Buff-cheeked Gibbons, and signs explaining the conservation work the zoo does with the species.
Another pleasing sign next to a pond detailed the many frogs that can be found in Hong Kong, both native and invasive.
The only species that I saw on this side that was noteworthy were the Red-handed Tamarins. I don't think I have seen them before and they were completely charming.
On this side were also some raccoons, a sloth mixed with some saki monkeys, and a couple of unremarkable tortoise enclosures.
Walking through the underpass to the other half was like entering a new zoo. The aviaries here were large and lushly planted. Although the netting was obvious there was so much foliage that they felt quite naturalistic; a stark contrast to the concrete and logs of the primate section. At the top of this area there was a very large cage for Ring-tailed Lemurs that used to hold Jaguar.
A slightly more traditional row of square aviaries contained a lovely variety of species. I don’t really know my birds, but I have the distinct suspicion that if I did keep lists I would have picked up many lifeticks here. A species list will follow in due course if anyone cares
Further down the hill were more aviaries for American flamingo, Scarlet Ibis, and all three species of Crowned Pigeon amongst others. It was interesting to see the crowned pigeons in the same aviary; I certainly spent more time observing them to identify all three than I would have normally, although I imagine keeping all three together means they aren’t breeding them.
There was a medium-sized multi-level green house that sadly only opened as I was leaving the zoo. I stuck my head in and am pretty sure it only contained botanical exhibits.
Below these exhibits is a beautiful garden containing a large fountain. With a view into the financial district and its towering skyscrapers, on a sunny morning it was quite spectacular. The only thing missing is a view into the harbour itself.
I left the zoo with my friend, an HK native. We walked to the cable railway station and took a trip to the top of the island. From the summit station to the actual summit is a brisk but beautiful half hour stroll. It was January 5th the day of my visit, but the temperature was at least 25 Celsius. Coming from the subzero wasteland that was Jiangsu at the time, this was a complete paradise for me. Actually you can’t reach the very summit because of a radio/radar station, but you can get pretty close and the view is fantastic.
After this we walked through the city to the habour front and got a hilariously cheap ferry across the bay to the northern part of the city. Once again the views were incredible. Once back on land we strolled through a shopping district until it was time for me to head back to the airport. The highlight of this part of the day was a man with a face like a hatchet and an old-looking pump-action shotgun sat outside a South African diamond store. Very Wild West!
If you only have a very short period of time in Hong Kong I thoroughly recommend this itinerary. Although I didn’t see any museums or similar in just a few hours I really felt like I got a feel for the city. I liked it a lot. It is a unique intersection between East and West in a way that even Singapore cannot imitate. I desperately hope that it can maintain its own identity as it moves forward into the future, which of course is hugely dependent on its relationship with the Chinese mainland. At the moment it has a wonderful vitality and ‘new-town’, frontier feel. It also reminded me surprisingly of Melbourne and the little of Brisbane that I have seen.
My only regret is not having been a few years earlier to see a BA jumbo landing in the old harbour airport. An iconic sight that I’m sure many miss.
Because of this I have decided to substitute Phong Nha for Pu Mat. It will save me a lot of time and I just don't think I have the skills to make the most of the more interesting destination. I'll certainly be doing more trips to Northern Vietnam in the future, especially now that I've seen Cat Ba Langurs in captivity....
