The Trip

Elizabeth Marsham

The day had finally arrived, the day I had been waiting for a few months now. Who would have thought that a poem I wrote, me, Elizabeth Marsham would end up with me and the rest of my class on an all expenses paid trip to Edinburgh Zoo which included accommodation, transport and a years free adoption of the only polar bear in Britain, her name is Mercedes.

The previous day we all spent a gruelling nine hour bus trip to the biggest city in Scotland from our very remote school in north west Sutherland.

When we arrived at the zoo we were all excited apart from the one downside to this wonderful trip; rain. Cold, wet, miserable rain. First we met up with Zoë one of the workers at the zoo and we started off on our guided tour of the zoo. Monkeys, Sea Eagles and even Cockatoos but nothing could compare to my adopted polar bear Mercedes.

The keeper of Mercedes was surprised to see her out on such a miserable day as she is not used to it as it isn't her natural habitat. The keeper talked to us about the care of Mercedes and how she came to be in Edinburgh Zoo.

Next we set off to the Education Centre where we met with Polly Philpot who showed us a presentation on how global warming can affect animals such as Mercedes the polar bear. Next we went into another room and got up close and personal with some of the animals and insects of the world such as Cockroaches, Tree Frogs and Bearded Dragons.

Next we carried on with our tour and once again; got wet. So off we headed to Rainbow Landings. We all questioned what it was but as soon as we arrived it was easy to see. A small pot of nectar was handed to us and we walked into this room and all of a sudden multi-coloured birds came down and landed on our arms heads and shoulders and drank the nectar from the cups it was amazing an was an experience to remember.

As we walked down the path we were met by our ride. An open wildlife safari, and yes it was still raining. It was cold, the seats were wet but we still made the most of it even though most of the animals were inside.

After a long, wet but exciting day it was time to board the bus and set off home. Another seven hours in the bus and finally we were home but not without my souvenir, my mini Mercedes.