Why I went to the Zoo!

The animal photos I have been posting recently where all shot at the city Zoo of Antwerp. Antwerp is located some 45 km north of Brussels on the estuary of the Schelde River. The people of Antwerp are very proud of their city, which they like to refer to as ‘The Metropolis’. A title it mostly owes to its international container traffic port, which is size-wise the 3rd largest in Europe (Rotterdam in Holland is the biggest, while Hamburg in Germany occupies the second place). When we look at the volume that is handled in these three ports, Rotterdam remains first, but Antwerp comes in second. On a global level, Antwerp is 13th. Not bad.

As I mentioned before, the Antwerp Zoo was inaugurated on July 21st, 1834. In the early days it was mainly or even solely visited by the upper classes, as the entrance fee was very steep. Working class people had to toil a full week to earn enough money to be able to buy a just one ticket.

19th century entrance gate, with an undeniable oriental touch.

In the 20th century the entrance fee became more democratic and since then the Zoo has been a popular daytrip destination for (grand)parents with small children. It’s also an absolute must for primary schools that want to take their pupils on an educational school trip.

My recent visit to the Zoo wasn’t a school trip, but it almost felt like one, because what we did was basically the same. It was a teambuilding event! I usually try to avoid these get-togethers, because of the silly tasks you are asked to perform in an attempt to get better acquainted with people you spend the best part of your working days with … but who you would probably never invite in your home or spend a holiday with.

This time, however, I decided I would attend the event. Why? Because the afternoon activity sounded really interesting: a backstage visit of the Zoo and because I guessed that it would make great blog material. In the dark days before Christmas it’s hard to come up with subjects that can capture and hold my readers’ attention… and generate the odd comment every now and then.

So one dark and windy November morning I set out on my safari adventure. We had been asked to use public transport to get to Antwerp, as the rates of the nearby underground car park are outrageously expensive and our employer was refunding our travel expenses. I had studied the whole matter closely and discovered that taking the train would be too much hassle. It involved driving my car to our local station, where parking space is rare, catching a stop train into Leuven. Take another stop train to Mechelen. Transfer to yet another stop train to Antwerp. A trip that would take me 2.5 hours … If the trains were running on time, which can be a bit of a problem.

At some point I even discussed with my colleagues the possibility of renting a coach bus. We could rendezvous at our office in Brussels, leave our cars in the company’s underground free car park and share the cost of the coach bus. However, this proved to be more expensive than we thought.

So I started looking for another option. Antwerp being the Metropolis it claims to be, there had to be a direct and easy connection between the city and Brussels airport. Thanks to my good friend Mr. Google, I discovered that there was a special coach service running every hour from the airport to Antwerp and back. The ride took 45 minutes and one-way ticket cost 10 euro.

The Airport Express at Brussels' airport bus station.

I shared this information with M.H., a colleague of mine. Although we are not really close we get along and chatting with her is always fun. But most important, like me, she lives at a stone’s throw from the airport. We rendezvoused at the bus stop near my apartment and drove to the airport where we were to board the Airport Express …