A boat ride to the zoo through the enchanting historic centre of Prague is an unforgettable experience that tens of thousands of Praguers and visitors to the capital treat themselves to every year. The boat line from Rašín Embankment and back adds the proverbial cherry on top to a stroll among the exotic animals — children and adults love it alike.
On the morning of Friday 6 September, representatives of the Prague Steamboat Company, accompanied by Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek, set out on this cruise aboard the historic Vltava steamboat to christen together a pair of steamer ducks at the zoo. The ducks settled in their shared enclosure with the penguins after their winter arrival. The cruise of the godparents and invited guests, who filled the steamboat's decks, was made all the more pleasant by an engaging and well-informed commentary on the landmarks they were sailing past, the traditional jazz associated with paddle steamers performed by Dixie Band, face and body painting that appealed not only to children, refreshments from the in-house catering of the Prague Boats holding (which today includes the Prague Steamboat Company), and Lego sets that the company gave to participants as small gifts.
The destination of the festive cruise then awaited at the zoo — the steamer ducks. These flightless birds got their name from naturalists thanks to the distinctive movement they use to help them across the water surface when they need to pick up speed: they paddle with their short wings much as steamboats do with their paddle wheels, propelling themselves off the water. As Zoo director Miroslav Bobek pointed out with a smile during the christening, steamer ducks can in fact travel a little faster than Prague's steamboats. The original home of the steamer ducks is the southernmost tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego, but the Prague pair were born in a German zoo park.
The founder of the Prague Boats holding, Richard Vojta, and the director of the Prague Steamboat Company, Pavel Mácha, named the steamer ducks after the heritage-listed historic steamboats Vltava and Vyšehrad, and received from zoo director Miroslav Bobek a certificate of adoption — making Prague Steamboat Company a sponsor of these remarkable birds as well. Miroslav Bobek only half-jokingly voiced concern over names for any future offspring of Vltava and Vyšehrad, given that only those two heritage steamboats now grace Prague — although the steamboat archives still hold plenty of names of other famous Prague steamers.
The successful celebration confirmed that the best way to visit the zoo is by boat — beyond the doubled experience, you also avoid Prague's traffic jams. And it showed that fans of the steamboats now have another reason to visit the zoo.
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