Zoo Lates at London Zoo has been going on for a few years now. Every Friday during the summer months they open the zoo after the closing time of 5pm for a big party. It’s adults only, and there are food stalls, a silent disco, and ‘lawn games’. You can wander round the zoo and see the animals before they go to bed at 9pm, go on the carousel, watch the musicians or comedy acts, and generally just have a good time!
We started by visiting the penguins, but Shev doesn’t like them, so we moved to the Tigers. It was at this stage that we started to get sad. I always make this mistake, I always go to zoos and then get really sad about the animals being stuck in cages and small spaces. So we decided that we’re all gonna go to Asia next year to see the tigers in their natural habitats!
After visiting the Giraffe’s and Zebra’s we went to see the Gorilla’s. The Gorilla really made us sad, he looked really stressed out and confused about why everyone was standing there staring at him. It’s weird how they look so human, their eyes show so much emotion. I just wanted to give the poor Gorilla a big hug!
After getting ourselves distressed over the animals behind glass, we went to get some food before hitting the silent disco. The queues for all of the food stalls were huuuuge, so we went for the shortest one, Rocket Dogs hot dogs, and they were actually pretty good, I love hot dog places that have crispy onions!
After scoffing our hot dogs we then went in search of the Dutch Pancakes we’d spied people eating. We eventually found them on the way to the silent disco, and all shared a giant plate of them covered in Nutella and Strawberries – delish!
We then spent about a coupla hours at the Silent Disco, until the park closed at 10pm. You pay a £10 deposit for your headphones, and then there are two channels to choose from. You can switch channels whenever you want at the press of a button on the headphones. I always thought silent discos were a bit odd and I never really thought I’d enjoy them, but we had so much fun!
Despite being sad about the animals, we still had an awesome night dancing at the silent disco!
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
I went last year for a hen do! It was fun despite the rain and I loved the Silent Disco too! It was very crowded when we went too, the food bit especially.
Lots of love,
Angie
SilverSpoon London
Looks like so much fun! How beautiful is that tiger? 🙂
Hi from one Surrey blogger to another! I went to London Zoo Lates a couple of years ago and loved it. However, I completely agree seeing the animals stressed in their small enclosures (particularly London Zoo where the cages are tiny) is really depressing. That said London Zoo do have a good release programme so there is a plus. Love you blog and header.
I'm going to Zoo Lates this week and I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED. I'm like a little kid. I get to drink while looking at penguins. Isn't that just the meaning of life right there?! 😉