10.9.2010 by Mervi & Vesa

To start writing a report is always difficult but this time even more so. My impressions will, of course, be coloured by the news we heard after our home coming. Well, I’ll give it a try anyway:

In the morning of September 4th the alarm clock woke us up at 4.30 but this morning I had no difficulties in getting up because it was THE day! Finally we were going to Bärlin! Since everything went smoothly we arrived in Tegel already at 10.30. After leaving our luggage in the hotel we hurried to the ticket office in the zoo to renew our annual tickets. We were allowed to go in through the ‘back door’ by the elephants’ enclosure and were first greeted by KoRaya and Shaina Pali who decided to go swimming. What a perfect timing!

It started to rain and when we came to the Waldschänke we met several Knuti fans having a coffee break. After hearing that Knut was having a nap we joined them. What a joy it was to meet so many friends again! We even met a newly born Knut fan, Yeo’s grandson Simeon – a real heartbreaker!

Monika is always well prepared!

It was still raining but who cares of some rain drops when you have a possibility to meet Herr Knut! He was still napping but occasionally he lifted his head to see if there were any visitors and slowly he made some morning gymnastics and got up to say ‘hello’ to us. Yes, he did say ‘hello’ in the special Knuti way…. He looked as sweet as ever wearing the ‘muddy make up’. The beard is now quite impressive, too.

He was walking about in the enclosure and now afterwards I feel like he was taking a thorough look at the place that has been his home for the last years. Maybe he had a feeling something was going to happen…..

When Patricia and I were sitting on the bench watching Knut we saw him making ‘sucking’ movements with his mouth. Patricia said he was going to lick his paws soon and of course, the Mamselleken was right. He licked his paws for quite a while which really made him look as a ‘kleenet kind’.

I also noticed the enclosure was much greener than last Autumn and we realized that Knut really has done some gardening! When he has moved the plants from a place to another they’ve started to grow everywhere. I wonder if he can make even the big enclosure a bit greener.

We nearly missed the feeding of the three ladies – Tosca, Nancy and Katjuscha. They had already been served the desert when we came. They had three yammy pumpkins which were carried around in their mouths just as they wanted to show the visitors what was on the menu today. Well, even grown up bears need lots of calories so it didn’t last very long until the pumpkins were a memory Ludmila had brought three huge pumpkins to the bears but these weren’t the ones.

Knuti’s feeding was carried out by Frau Weckert and naturally the lettuce was spitted out while he was waiting for the decent stuff. They seem to be a good team. Frau Weckert always takes time to wait until Knut is ready for the next mouthful of food.

After the feeding it was time to go back to our hotel and prepare ourselves for the meeting at Joe’s. Gudrun and Manfred had done a wonderful job again arranging the meeting and everybody was having a good time. Marion2 had even her lovely dog with her – I’m sorry I’ve forgotten the name.

According to the tradition we also raised money for the deliveries to the Bärenhof and it resulted in 250 euros. Not bad at all!! So dear Gudrun, you won’t be ‘unemployed’

When the dinner – a delicious king size Grillplatte – was eaten the smokers moved to the outdoor cafe. You know how it is at a long table – somebody’s always longing for a fag and it makes it a bit ‘uneasy’ when you have to stand up and move all the time….. Patricia suggested we should take our way under the table but we decided to go out instead …. Lots of chatting, lots of laughter, of course!

We could have danced – I mean talked – all night but there was the next day to think about and an old broad like me needs some sleep every now and then so it was time to say good night and goodbye to those who had to leave next morning.

In the morning of the 5th the CCC woke up in a beautiful sunshine. After a hearty breakfast it was time to take the short walk to the zoo again. When we arrived to Knut he was napping but we heard he had already been playing in the water. We went to visit the lovely white wolves. The cubs have grown a lot but they are still so cute!!

Today Gudrun, Manfred and Simone had made another food delivery to the bears and the wolves and the feeding tour was due to start at 2 o’lock. While waiting for it many of us went to Waldschänke for light refreshments. Why do I sound like Hyacinth Bucket?

When we were sipping our coffee, cola, beer or whatever Gudrun received a phone call. Knut was playing in the water again! It felt like a message in a spy movie: ‘The target is moving’. Everybody started to half run towards Knut’s enclosure and there he was – playing ball with the visitors!

It was so fun to see him hiding the ball in a cavity and get it out again. I have always loved his way to check the audience. ‘Did you see that’ he seemed to be asking. Maybe this was the last time we saw him playing so close to us…. I’m glad I was there to witness it.

Time for a feeding tour! Marcus Röbke came first to the wolves to treat them with rabbits, chicken and other meat. I have to confess I didn’t take such a close look …. I understand the wolves eat meat and so do I but I still feel strongly about the rabbits….

The three ladies got a big salmon each. At first they weren’t so eager to get into the water to catch them but of course, the scent of yammy salmons couldn’t keep them away. Nancy carried her salmon behind the rocks and Katjuscha took his into the cave – you could only see her black, shiny nose occasionally while she was eating.

Tosca seems to have ‘inherited’ Lars’ dinner table. Yesterday she ate her pumpkin there and now the salmon. Knuti has always been very particular to carry his food to his own dinner table, too and I was wondering whether the mother and the son are willing to share this ‘family dining room’. Well, we’ll see… but the photos from Knuti’s first day in the big enclosure showed us he was eating there already!!

I have to confess I don’t know if this cute bear is Siddy or Petzi but she was willing to pose to the photographers all the time. As a reward she was treated by a big yammy salmon!

Knuti was treated by lots of fish and vegetables and I guess I don’t have to tell you what he liked most. A funny detail was that when Knut was sitting waiting for his food Marcus Röbke only lifted one finger and Knuti stood up on his hind legs. I never noticed that before so maybe it’s a new kind of interaction between them. I liked the way they were communicating! It reminded me of Thomas Dörflein feeding Lars.

In the evening Annemarie, Bea, Vesa and I went to Zur Kneipe to have dinner. Herr Frölich and the waitress recognized us and gave us a warm welcome. Then something funny happened. I hardly ever receive phone calls on my mobile – maybe because it’s mostly turned off! – but this evening Herr Frölich gave me his mobile telling there was a call for me. Moi?? It was Dumba inviting us to come to her place the next day. Only a few minutes later the nice gentleman came with his phone again… I was sure Dumba had forgotten to say something but this time it was Caren! What a great – and lovely – surprise! I felt like a VIB (Very Important Bear)!

Thank you, Annemarie and Bea, for a lovely evening!

The Kneipe really is a cosy place so I hope we can have a great Christmas Party there in December!

Monday was another beautiful day in Bärlin. We had planned to do some shopping but realized the suitcases were already about the explode so a trip to Karstadt was all we did. You can never guess what we did after that. Well, I’m going to surprise you by telling that we went to the zoo! Before we came to Bärlin we had a good laugh when one of Vesa’s collegues had told him there’s a zoo in Berlin which he highly recommended we should visit….. You always learn something new don’t you!

We had thought there wouldn’t be so many visitors today but the zoo was quite crowded. We tried to assure to have good spots to see Knuti’s feeding because we knew this would be the last feeding we could see in this enclosure. Little did we know that this really was the last feeding.

The time had come again to wawe goodbye to Knuti. He was finishing his dinner and looked so wonderful! What a shock it was when the first thing after our homecoming was to read the news that he had been moved to the big enclosure already. Of course, we knew this was going to happen but so soon…..

The picture of a happy Knuti still in our eyes we went to visit Dumba. Thank you so much for your hospitality! We really enjoyed the delicious dinner and our afternoon chat! Sorry, we drank all your beer again

Well, now we’re back home again trying to digest the latest news from the CCC. Although I can’t help worrying about Knuti I’m sure he will cope with this new situation as well as he has coped with other difficult times in his life. I was very sorry to hear Knuti had to leave his enclosure without any ‘luggage’. I had hoped he could take something  with him. Even when we want to make a new start in our lives we always want to carry a piece of our past with us. The same goes for our pets. We never leave our cats or dogs anywhere without their favourite toys, food bowl and things like that. These little familiar things make us and the animals feel secure in new surroundings, among new people…..

The changes seem to be harder for me to accept than they are for our beloved Knuti. I’m sure the keepers will keep a close eye on him and see to it he will continue to be the happy Knuti we wawed goodbye last Monday.

Annemarie, Alex, Gisela, Bea, Patricia, Gudrun, Manfred, Simone, Raupe, Andrea aus Bremen, Uschi, Miezehumpf, Patrizia & Fabio, GiselaH, Yeo, Babs, Violetta, Rena, Natty, Hartmuth, SylviaMicky, Monika, MarionK, Marion2, Dumba, Ludmila & Uwe, Conny HH, Angelina, Monika aus Düsseldorf, Bärbel, Roland, Gudrun F, – thank you all for a wonderful time in the CCC! Please, forgive me if I’ve forgotten somebody.

Our special greetings to Doris Webb. We missed you and wish you a speedy recovery so we can meet you again in December!

Photo by Dumba

Last but not least – thank you, dear Knuti, for your hospitality! We sincerely wish you a happy life with your new lady companions. I understand it won’t be easy. First La Donna and now there will be three of them!! Just take it easy, relax and be the charming buddy you are. The ladies will adore you and I’m sure everything will work out beautifully!

Bear hugs from Mervi & Vesa (Photo by Dumba)

You’ll find more photos here

It’s very difficult to find a good spot to make a video – you really need sharp elbows – but here you can see what we saw…..

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