Prague Steamboats Company became the godfather of steamer ducks
A boat trip to the zoo through the enchanting historic centre of Prague is an unforgettable experience that tens of thousands of Prague residents and visitors enjoy every year. The boat cruise from Rašín's Embankment and back adds the imaginary "icing on the cake" to the walk among exotic animals and is loved by children and adults alike.
On Friday, September 6, representatives of the Prague Steamboats Company accompanied by the director of the Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek, set off on this cruise on the historic steamer Vltava to christen a pair of mallards, which have taken up residence in a shared enclosure with the penguins since their winter arrival at the zoo. The journey of the godparents of the steamer ducks and the invited guests who filled the decks of the steamer was made more pleasant by an engaging and knowledgeable explanation of the sights they were passing by, traditional jazz associated with paddle steamers performed by the Dixie Band, face and body painting, not only for children, refreshments from the Prague Boats holding company's own catering, to which the Prague Steamship Company belongs today, and puzzles donated by the Lego company as small gifts for the participants.
In the zoo, the destination of the gala cruise was waiting - the steamer ducks. These flightless birds got their name from naturalists after the characteristic movement they use to help them navigate the water when they need to develop more speed - their short wings turn their wheels like steamboats and bounce off the surface. As Miroslav Bobek, the zoo's director, pointed out with a smile during the christening, the steamer ducks can sail even faster than the Prague steamers. The original homeland of the steamer ducks is the southernmost tip of South America, the Land of Fire, but the Prague ducks were born in a German zoo.
Richard Vojta, the founder of Prague Boats holding, and Pavel Mácha, the director of Prague Steamboat Company, named the ducks after the protected historic steamboats Vltava and Vyšehrad and received the adoption decree from Miroslav Bobka, the director of the zoo. Miroslav Bobek only in exaggeration expressed his concern about the names of the possible descendants of Vltava and Vyšehrad, when the historical steamers have already decorated Prague for the last two, but there are still enough names of famous Prague steamers in the steamboat archives.
The successful celebration confirmed that it is best to visit the zoo by boat - besides the double experience, it is also possible to effectively avoid Prague traffic jams. And it also showed that fans of steamboating have another reason to visit the zoo.
