Our biggest gastro fail on this trip was Belfast.
When we planned our Irish road trip, the date to arrive to Belfast was set to 12th of July.
The Twelfth or Orangemen’s Day is a primarily Ulster Protestant celebration and a public holiday.
The parades held on the day commemorate the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Since the beginning, the Twelfth was followed by violence between Ulster Protestants and Catholics, especially during The Troubles.
We have been warned about the event and the bonfire, but the only discomfort we encountered was lack of restaurants to eat.
Living in Norway and being used that the restaurant make their monthly earning just staying opened on the Constitution day, when waiters are begging to work (bcs of the tips) we were disappointed to learn that public holiday in Northern Ireland was a holiday for hospitality industry as well.
Desperately searching a place to have a pint, we were so lucky to stumble on a bar where we had our drinks last time. The pub that D calls his own as he pays the visit to the bar every time he returns to the city.
However, with the gastro adventure that we looked forward to, being the total failure, our family visit to the Belfast ZOO was a hit.
Second oldest in the Ireland, after Dublin, Belfast zoo was opened in 1934. Its history is connected to the local public transport system, which is quite odd relation.
To encourage the people to use the public horse-drawn trams, the company in charge built a huge garden at the end of the line.
Back in the day, these type of pleasure gardens as they were called (wouldn’t find its way in a common use today) were popular destinations for day trips. The zoological collection on the site soon followed. And that was it.
It took 150 men to build the site with the cost of £10,000 which is around £700,000 in today’s money. A total of 284,713 people visited the zoo in its first year
The ZOO today houses more than 600 animals and 120 species on a site of 55 acres.
They care for over twenty endangered species and eleven vulnerable species, while being pioneers in an elephant care.
Caring for non-breeding elephants female the Belfast ZOO provides a safe space and a sanctuary for the old, once mostly circus elephants.
As the human population continues to grow, many wild habitats are destroyed to make room for more people. When habitats disappear, animals begin as well.
Many ZOOs around the world have changed their point of views in past decades. Belfast ZOO is one of those.
The general idea behind the zoo is to play an active role in conservation by helping species in danger to survive.
Belfast ZOO takes part in many collaborative breeding programmes with zoos around the world all of which aim to increase the numbers of endangered animals and provide safety net population in captivity*
Cudos!
