It's A Zoo Around Here!

I've managed a bit on this Homespun Elegance beeskep.  Probably no more stitching now until after I return home

I did manage to finish a post on my visit to Lavenham.  You can take a look here if you are interested. 

How to spend our last day in London?  We decided to visit ZSL London Zoo.

It had been several years since either of us had been to a zoo.  And while ZSL does not have any bears or elephants, it does have a couple of beautiful tigers.  These guys made me miss my own 'tigers' - Solomon and Tom-Cat. 

Honestly there was plenty to see - monkeys, gorillas, camels, tapirs, otters, fruit bats...

...meerkats ...

...tortoise, giraffes, camels, kangaroos...

...and warthogs!

Lots of wonderful African and tropical birds.  And a few 'locals' including herons.

I think these large (3 1/2 feet tall) Eastern White Pelicans were worth the price of admission (£25) by themselves. 

Could there be a more fittingly decorated pillar box at the exit gate of the zoo?

As we headed back to Baker Street Station we passed the famous Transport for London Lost Property Office.

Here's a brief explanation of its function from the TLF website:

"Last year the most commonly forgotten objects were books (36,852), bags (28,550) and items of clothing (27,174).

Over the last seven and a half decades, the LPO has seen more than its fair share of unusual items too - a stuffed puffer fish, human skulls, breast implants and a lawnmower are just a few of the stranger items handed in.

Located on Baker Street, the LPO takes pride in its link to its famous fictional neighbour Sherlock Holmes, even naming the computer system staff use to log all lost items 'Sherlock'.

Staff at the LPO use their own detective skills to try and reunite lost property with its rightful owner, directly contacting them if any form of identification is found with the object.

There have been occasions where staff have gone a step further to return items, managing to track down the next of kin for two urns of ashes that had been in the LPO for years, even though there were just a few words written on the urns."

So off we go to walk along the Thames River one last time.  Then an early night and I hope to sleep rather than worry.  We have booked a cab for a 5:00am pick up to Paddington.  Our flight leaves at 10:35am and arrives in San Francisco at 1:20pm. Then we have to sit around for hours and hours as we fly out at 10:17pm and arrive in Oregon at 12:15am on Wednesday.  An extraordinarily LONG day. I'm going to try to get an earlier flight out of S.F., but I don't hold much hope of being able to do so.