Zoo Lates Take Two

After several weeks of long days at the office, we were allowed to escape at lunchtime on Friday for a day of team-building fun. Stage one involved heading down to the South Bank to do a treasure hunt that sent us hurrying around Covent Garden and Leicester Square. The treasure hunt company texts you clues and you have to text back the answers and complete all 11 clues as quickly as possible. Some were more cryptic than others, but it was a fun activity, particularly if you are in two teams, as we were, and particularly if you have visitors from out of town. £15 isn't too bad for several hours of entertainment and a nice route through some of the more touristy parts of London.

Five have a mystery to solve.

We were lucky to have gorgeous weather on Friday, so after we'd finished, we cooled off in Lincoln's Inn Fields for a while, before heading to The Edinboro Castle in Camden for some Pimm's. I can't remember the last time I was sitting in a pub at 5 pm on a Friday, and the sunshine made it all the more sweeter.

The entertainment in the queue.

Then it was time for Zoo Lates at London Zoo. I went last year with some friends, but because we were in a pretty big group, we didn't get too see much so I was excited to go again. We were still in a big group, but my boss had some insider knowledge, having worked there for several years, so she took us on a great route past all the biggest crowd-pleasers: the gorillas and monkeys, the tigers, the giraffes and the penguins. I still haven't had the chance to properly play with my new camera, but I managed to snap a few nice animal shots.

Big daddy gorilla.

Cute black-and-white colobus monkeys.

Tiger, tiger, burning bright.

We got to see plenty of other animals too before we found a patch of grass for our picnic. Meanwhile, an almost-silent disco was going on. We decided it was more fun to watch people boogying and singing out of tune than to actually take part.

The not-so-silent disco.

I did concede to buying a giraffe headpiece though, which may come in useful for my next half-arsed fancy dress effort.

Convincing disguises, no?

There were too many people watching the giraffes perform, so my photos weren't great.

Once it got to bedtime for the animals, I was feeling pretty beat myself, but there was still time for one last quick drink before I caught my long, if relatively direct, bus back home. What a lovely day.