Trip to Cologne - 2009

Toddy

Toddy

Well-Known Member
Hello ZooChat

In July 2009 I will be doing a tour of some zoos in western Germany with Cologne as my base of operations. I also did this back in 2007 and will be revisiting some of the zoos I saw back then as well as experiencing new ones. The zoos on schedule this year are:

Cologne Zoo
Duisburg Zoo
Dortmund Zoo
Wuppertal Zoo
Frankfurt Zoo
ZOOM
Gaiapark

The first five of those I have seen before. I have a few technical questions about the zoos before I go:

  • Is it easy to get to Gaiapark from Cologne? As far as I can see, one has to take the train to Aachen and then either bus or train a short distance accross the border. Correct?
  • Is it correct that the easiest way to get to ZOOM would be to take one train to Dortmund and then another to Gelsenkirchen?
  • Will the outdoor enclosures of Borgori-wald in Frankfurt Zoo be open by July? They were constructing this massive new house during my last visit.
  • Any chance of the mountain tapir comming to Cologne Zoo from L.A. before July?

I am very much looking forward to seeing Gaiapark and ZOOM as they both are brand new concepts in this part of the world. Also to see the new king penguin house in Wuppertal and Borgori-wald in Frankfurt, as well as revisiting the Grzimek House in Frankfurt Zoo, lion enclosure in Wuppertal, Rio Negro in Duisburg and all the others.
 
It is planned to open the outdoor exhibits of Borgori-Wald in the late summer, so I would say, July might be to early...

No chance for the mountain tapir coming to cologne before July. It is absolutly uncertain, if this animal will ever come to germany.
 
Hi Toddy,
I did a smaller trip like yours in December, I was based in Koln and did 3 zoo's in 3 days!
Koln, Wuppertal and Duisburg, but it was wintertime and not all the animals were out, I was disapointed not to see the tigers and lions out in their massive new homes in Wuppertal.
So it gives me the idea to do the tour again when the weather is warmer.
I really also want to go to Zoom, but it was harder to get too, so I will like to visit some other time, but I hope you can take some pix for us all to see here.
I think your plan to get to Zoom is correct if I remember you get a train Koln to Dortmund then a local service to Zoom.
Out of the 3 zoo's I saw I liked Duisburg the best as it seemed to have a larger collection of interesting animals, but they were all good in different ways (Koln for the elephants, and Wuppertal for the lions and tiger enclosures, although for me the new penguin house was still being built, so I saw the start of the building project only).
What is Gaiapark and what animals are there as I never heard of it before?
Have a great trip.
 
Thank you for your answers :)

@Zebraduiker: Dang, but at least the indoor areas of Borgori-wald are ready:)

@chizlit: Thanks! Gaiapark is a new zoo in southern Holland by the town of Kerkrade, just a stone-throw over the border from Germany. It is very new and modern and divided in themes: Amazonia, Europe, Congo, Ice age, Limburg, Namibia and Tundra. You can read more on their website.
 
I would go by car instead of public transport, but that's just me. When you are in Aachen I don't think it's very hard to find a train or bus that's going across the border to kerkrade. I was in the neighbourhood of gaiapark last year when I visited a music festival nearby, and we travelled trough germany instead of our own country, because it's faster.
 
@Johnny: Car is not an option for me because I simply don't have one ;) So I hope it will be easy to get to Gaiapark since it is a zoo that I really want to see!
 
Toddy,
If you go to the D Bahn website and put in your journey from Koln to Kerkrade it will give you the journey details there, but all involve a change of service at Aachen, but it looks quite easy, then just look at the Gaiapark website on how to get there from Kerkrade.
 
New exhibit

I am off to Cologne this friday so I was just checking out the zoos' websites and something struck me on Cologne's. Looking at the map of the zoo I saw two new additions:
1. The ball cage for douc langurs which I already knew about, and
2. What appears to be a new house for capuchins and howler monkeys? Also, there are no pictures by the old russian-styled monkey house? Can anyone tell me more about this?
 
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