Tanned and gorgeous

is what I am after Friday's trip to the zoo. Summer arrived on Thursday/Friday, and departed just as quickly yesterday. London is back to the mediocre gloom one would expect. The zoo, however, was an interesting experience. It is, as ever, in a state of transition, as it is being rebranded (slowly) as part of ZSL - although there are still many signs and buildings that remain from my first visit to the zoo twenty-odd years ago. They are building new enclosures for many of the biggest attractions - a £5 million gorilla house is due for next year, and the giraffes/zebras to the north of the zoo, next tot the canal have been transformed into an 'African' experience. The most noticeable change, however, is the concious promotion of retail within the zoo - there are shops, kiosks and cafes all over the place, and the smell of deep-fat fryers pervades the air. A shame, I feel, and a problem not limited only to the zoo - our correpsondent who has visited Kew recently commented that there are more cafes selling over-priced food, as well as a land-train to carry visitors unwilling to walk through the gardens. This transformation into an 'experience' seems shameful to me - as our correspondent's mother said, when he was a child, running riot through the open spaces of Kew was enough - there was no need for play areas, etc. My feelings about the zoo are the same - I still feel wonder when looking at tigers, or gorillas, or whatever, and the meet the monkeys part of the zoo is truly amazing. This is not to say that new developments are all bad - you can still watch the penguins (although they have been moved from their classic Art-Deco pool, now home to African porcupines) being fed, and there are many more interactive and educational parts than there ever were 20 years ago. I suppose the major issue is that the zoo exists as a charity, and receives no funding from the government, and so, in a classic piece of prostitution, has to turn tricks to invest the money in research and conservation.