I got to stroke a penguin

Last weekend I got to meet the penguins at London Zoo, and I loved it.

I’ve been a fan of the penguin for quite a few years and decided that I’d like to get a bit closer to them. So Richard bought me a meet the penguins experience for Christmas. And, as luck would have it, they had availability for me to go and see them on my birthday. So I spent an hour or so of my birthday with penguins. Amazing!

I still struggle with the concept of my birthday a little. I have no living parents, the people who put the ‘birth’ into ‘birthday’ are no longer with me, and I find that a challenge. I still don’t feel able to celebrate the day, but I can acknowledge it, and the last couple of years have been good.

Penguins make me feel happy and joyful. Watching these little Humbolt penguins being fed and zip around their pool looking for fish to eat was delightful. They’re so graceful underwater, and so comedic out of it. Just being able to see them was special. But then being able to step behind the gates and into the enclosure and spend time in a safe space with them - there is an area that we were allowed into where the penguins expect humans to be - and get to stroke them was incredible. I didn’t know to expect them to feel like, but the one I spent the most time stroking had soft downy feathers on his chest and was very sleek and smooth. And he responded well to strokes as well - he closed his eyes and looked like he was enjoying it too.

Happy and joyful feel like good feelings to have on my birthday. And so I class this as an excellent and enjoyable way to spend the day. Thanks Richard!