Anyone looking out of our window at the moment would be forgiven for thinking it is snowing. The air is full of light white flakes drifting in the breeze. It’s not snow, but in fact it is little balls of fluff from (we think) the poplar trees. Imagine what it would be like if a whole field of dandelions had their little “seed parachutes” simultaneously and then add another billion of them. It really looks like snow, sorry, photos didn’t come out very well. The weather couldn’t be further from that scenario, it is extremely hot every day, but we are getting more and more spectacular thunderstorms in the evenings. We get a great view from our apartment. The breeze picks up just before each storm, causing little whirlwinds of dust. When these hit the sycamore trees they also release their seeds – helicoptering through the air – Steve says it looks like a plague of locusts!
During the week Steve has been working hard in the new lynx enclosure. The wooden platforms are up and a pond has been dug. I’ve been mostly in the office working on animal management protocols and recommendations.
On Friday night we had our first venture into the expat community. We went to a social night at the Canadian Embassy. There were so many people there, mostly Canadians but also a few Americans and English expats. It was actually really strange to speak English and hear English spoken by everyone. We met some really nice people and will definitely be going back again.
Saturday was pretty quiet for us; I had a bit of a migraine so we mainly stayed in and relaxed. The zoo was mega-busy as usual, thousands of visitors. The zoo has a big education programme for children and one of the highlights is “ZooQuest”. This is a long term challenge for groups of children and school classes. They have to complete a series of Quests over the course of about 6 months, find out information about animals, conservation and environmental issues, take photos, draw pictures, and do projects, all sorts of things really. This year’s challenge finished recently and there was an award ceremony in the zoo for the winning teams. It was really great to see.
Today (and yesterday) is Kyiv Day, a celebration of all things Kyiv. We went along to the centre of Kyiv to see what was going on. We watched the firework display last night from our window. Today there were bands and musicians performing on a series of stages along the main street; both traditional and modern music. There were sponsored races; we saw the start of the rollerblade ones. The streets were lined with little stalls selling food and drinks, books, traditional clothing and souvenirs and some great artwork. There were also battle re-enactments and a rather random group of chickens. We had a nice wander, just looking at everything and sweltering in the heat. We decided it was time to check out an Indian restaurant that we had been told about by some Canadians. It is called Himalaya and the food was fantastic. We haven’t had any spicy food for ages and this was just what we needed. The decor is beautiful and the service was quick and efficient. I would thoroughly recommend this place and we will be going back there again.
We headed back to the zoo mid-afternoon, but got distracted on our way to the apartment by the rhino. The keepers have flooded part of her enclosure this weekend, and she is having a fabulous time rolling around in the mud and water and running through it to churn it up before having another roll. We caught up with one of the keepers and ended up going in and giving the rhino a good scrub down with a stiff brush. It was both excellent fun for us and very beneficial for her skin. She really seemed to enjoyed it as once Steve had scrubbed one side of her, she turned round so he could do the other side!
During the week Steve has been working hard in the new lynx enclosure. The wooden platforms are up and a pond has been dug. I’ve been mostly in the office working on animal management protocols and recommendations.
On Friday night we had our first venture into the expat community. We went to a social night at the Canadian Embassy. There were so many people there, mostly Canadians but also a few Americans and English expats. It was actually really strange to speak English and hear English spoken by everyone. We met some really nice people and will definitely be going back again.
Saturday was pretty quiet for us; I had a bit of a migraine so we mainly stayed in and relaxed. The zoo was mega-busy as usual, thousands of visitors. The zoo has a big education programme for children and one of the highlights is “ZooQuest”. This is a long term challenge for groups of children and school classes. They have to complete a series of Quests over the course of about 6 months, find out information about animals, conservation and environmental issues, take photos, draw pictures, and do projects, all sorts of things really. This year’s challenge finished recently and there was an award ceremony in the zoo for the winning teams. It was really great to see.
Today (and yesterday) is Kyiv Day, a celebration of all things Kyiv. We went along to the centre of Kyiv to see what was going on. We watched the firework display last night from our window. Today there were bands and musicians performing on a series of stages along the main street; both traditional and modern music. There were sponsored races; we saw the start of the rollerblade ones. The streets were lined with little stalls selling food and drinks, books, traditional clothing and souvenirs and some great artwork. There were also battle re-enactments and a rather random group of chickens. We had a nice wander, just looking at everything and sweltering in the heat. We decided it was time to check out an Indian restaurant that we had been told about by some Canadians. It is called Himalaya and the food was fantastic. We haven’t had any spicy food for ages and this was just what we needed. The decor is beautiful and the service was quick and efficient. I would thoroughly recommend this place and we will be going back there again.
We headed back to the zoo mid-afternoon, but got distracted on our way to the apartment by the rhino. The keepers have flooded part of her enclosure this weekend, and she is having a fabulous time rolling around in the mud and water and running through it to churn it up before having another roll. We caught up with one of the keepers and ended up going in and giving the rhino a good scrub down with a stiff brush. It was both excellent fun for us and very beneficial for her skin. She really seemed to enjoyed it as once Steve had scrubbed one side of her, she turned round so he could do the other side!
Steve's Lynx Platforms
More Lynx Platforms
ZooQuest Awards
Strange sculpture at Maidan Square
Battle Re-enactment at Kyiv Day 
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