The Penguins made a grand entry, three of them, as if they were stepping out on a Broadway Stage. They clearly love attention and are especially fond of people.

The Penguin keepers warned us not to get on the floor, we would get popped on, and reminded us to put out coats and bags up high on our seating platforms, or they would get pegged, even stolen. Penguins, they said, would eat anything and poop suddenly.

Sounded very much like  Lab puppy to me.

The penguins were clearly fond of people and used to them and curious about them. While the zookeepers hovered with towels, the penguins made the rounds, looking each of us (there were 10) in the eye, checking us out, offering their backs for scratching.

They had the most wonderful penguin waddle and looked officious and slightly ridiculous at the same time. They had a lot of personalities, each one was different. One tried to eat a woman’s scarf, the other one wanted to nibble on an iPhone.

They were gentle, but still animals. The bond between them and their zookeepers was very touching. They seemed happy and engaged, the zookeepers say they are with them almost all of every day.

It was exciting to see them up close, we left wondering how many animals can grow this easy around people, or perhaps many different animals could, given the chance.

The zoo did a great job of teaching us about penguins and their fragility in this era of pollution and climate change. Getting close like this was a revelation, we want to do more.

We plan two more visits to the zoo to meet different animals – first, the sloth, and then a cheetah.

I will, of course, keep you posted.