Diergaarde Blijdorp (Hoofdingang)
Blijdorplaan 8
3041 JG Rotterdam
Diergaarde Blijdorp (Ingang Rivierahal)
Van Aerssenlaan 49
3039 KE Rotterdam
Diergaarde Blijdorp is opend daily, also on holidays
During winter time from 09:00 to 17:00 uur
Unfortunately, our planned holiday outing is cancelled. Blijdorp Zoo is in lock down now, due to Omikron. Lucky for us, we also went just before the closing!
Our most favorite day out in Rotterdam is Diergaarde Blijdorp. As a born and bred Rotterdam family - since 1920 - generations of relatives from babies to the elderly have visited the Diergaarde. We love to come here and do so often, in the most beautiful zoo in the Netherlands ;)) With a beautiful collection of animals, in a lovely Botanical garden full of (special) plants and flowers, it is a relaxed day out, if you get there early.
We start by visiting the sea lions and the Oceanium, they are right next to where you enter the Zoo. The Sea lions are very active, could it be because of the cold weather? Although the sun is shining brightly, it is still a cold day. In the Oceanium - before we enter the tunnel - we immediately see a large shark lounging on the tunnel, above our heads. The Sea Turtle swims happily around but the shark is unperturbed.
Then we go on the first (a little belated) maternity visit of today, we have many visits to do. First to the Pinché twins, the little monkeys were born this summer. There are now eight, because every year Mom and Dad Pinché have twins. Do the math, this is the third twin already! They can be seen just after the Stingrays.
Then we go and see the Hutias (Cuban Tree rats) and their three babies, they were born in mid-August! The cute toddlers are happily scurrying around. On the way out we see a very special turtle, not with a baby but with a cute little friend!
We walk past the beautiful coloured starfish and a very large lobster outside, out of the Oceanium and into the Zoo ...
A polar bear is walking on the other side of the road, a little further on we pass the Alpaca and then we see the little prairie dogs! Aren't they super cute in their fluffy winter coat? They are not this chubby in summer. They just stay put, where ever they are, no matter how close you come.
Afterwards we walk under the viaduct to a short cut. We are looking for Krissy, the Malaysian baby Tapir.
The Tapirs live together with the elephants in the Taman Indah enclosure, the Asia section of the garden. We would also like to see the toddler elephant Radjik, who was born last May. Let's take a look, are the toddlers playing outside or can they be found inside Taman Indah? Radjik is playing outside in the sun, he jokes with mom and grandma Elephant.
Krissy is not outside. So we follow the corona rules to limit contact with other visitors as much as possible and walk around the residence to the other side, where we can go inside. There mother Pooh and baby Krissy are having a nice meal together. We take a lot of pictures of mother and child, because after six months the Krissy is no longer a baby and her beautiful pattern will be gone!
We walk along the Pelicans which we will admire another time more extensively, now we are looking for a very special baby: the Visaya piglet. The Visaya Warthog is becoming rare in the wild, it is even more in danger of extinction than the Giant Panda! It is incomprehensible! We love the Visaya piglet so much!
We visit another animal which we never miss when in Blijdorp Zoo: the Komodo Dragon, a extraordinary predator from Indonesia.
The service department of the Pachyderms, the Rhinos to be precise, has no boring entrance. It is covered with a very large photo of running black rhinoceros mother Naima and her child! Super cute, what a great photo!
The rhinoceros baby was born on November 8, 2020 and is a boy, named Nasor. His name is a tribute to the human boy Nasor, who came to Blijdorp from Tanzania in 1931, to tend to their first black rhinoceros. There are currently four black rhinoceroses living in Blijdorp Zoo.
The residence of the Flamingos, close to the old entrance to Blijdorp Zoo, has been completely renovated. The animals still have a nice large outdoor area, but it is now covered with a net. Sadly, due to bird flu contamination, you are temporarily not allowed to enter.
In better times you may, so next time we will take a walk through the new residence, to admire the pretty birds up close. Previously, you could only see them from quite a distance. Also nice, before there were benches placed outside the residence, for visitors, now these benches have been placed inside.
It was another wonderful day in Blijdorp, our Zoo has earned the title of Most Beautiful Zoo in the Netherlands for a reason! We have seen many exotic animals and learned lots of new things. We drank delicious coffee outside, with poffertjes to go with it. It was cold outside but the weather was beautiful and sunny, Puk played in the indoor playground.
In these long-term covid times, Blijdorp Zoo is struggling financially, so if you can miss some money, give Blijdorp a helping hand! Many small contributions still make one big one. So Blijdorp can keep its well-deserved title and welcome all those children in the Netherlands who like to visit the Zoo again with open arms!
We hope to see you there!