Over the Easter bank holiday my boyfriend and I decided to visit Chester Zoo. We hadn’t actually planned to go, it was very last minute but aren’t last minute plans the best? We went on the Saturday and we were so lucky with the weather as it ended up being quite hot, the sun was out and there was no breeze. We got there at about half 12/ 1ish and for hours we spent a lot of time at each animal enclosure, but then we looked at the time and realised we needed to get a hurry on, as we still had half the zoo to still see. It really is a day out but had we of planned better, we would of got there earlier but we literally booked the tickets that morning and it takes us 2 hours to get there, but nevertheless we still had an amazing time and I would say this is the best zoo I have ever been to. They are also currently extending the zoo, however that isn’t going to be ready until 2025, but it’s just going to make the zoo even better than it already is.
What I liked about the zoo is there is maps everywhere, we actually purchased a map for a £1 but we used the map signs around the zoo a lot, as they showed where exactly you was. The zoo is very clean as well, there are a lot of bins, benches, and places to eat, however we didn’t eat at the zoo, as the queues put as off, which is to be expected on a bank holiday weekend. Most of the enclosures are very big which I see as a positive, yes it makes it harder to see the animals but the enclosures were probably some of the biggest I’ve seen at a zoo, which was nice because I felt like the animals had a lot more room. It’s a bit of a difficult one when it comes to zoos. I do love a zoo, but then you think the animals should be in their natural habitats but then a lot of them can’t be in their natural habitats because of them being endangered. It’s a tough one isn’t it. I tend to look at the zoo first before I go and look at the work they are doing and do my research.
I thought that maybe some of you would like to know about the work that Chester Zoo is doing. So Chester zoo is home to 20,000 animals. There is such a wide variety, which is one of the biggest reasons I loved it, I’ve never been to a zoo with that much variety. Another reason why I loved this zoo, is they are very big on fighting to prevent extinction. Unfortunately there is over one million species that are at risk of extinction, which is shocking and heartbreaking. They are also one of the worlds leading conservation based zoos. They have in the last 10 years, spent £180m on their conservation mission, which is incredible. If you wanted to find out more on the work that Chester Zoo are doing, you can do so by clicking here. As they have said, Zoo’s have never been more important, than what they are now.
Lets talk about some of the things I didn’t like then. There actually aren’t that many but one of the things was the aquarium part of the zoo. It isn’t an aquarium as you know, it’s just an indoor part of the zoo with different fish in. This wasn’t the problem, as that is what we expected. The problem was, that you couldn’t move in the room. There is a one way system in place but it wasn’t working. I think there needed to be a member of staff in there, which is odd because there are staff in the other indoor closures and dotted around outside as well. It did make it hard to go from looking at each tank, because when some people were still looking, it made it hard to get past them and go to the next one. It was also difficult to exit the room. We didn’t experience this in the other indoor enclosures though just the Aquarium. That is another thing I liked about the zoo, was there is a lot of indoor enclosures you could walk through like the butterfly house (which I was apprehensive about going in, as I don’t like things flying round me, but it’s something you don’t want to miss!) and also the fruit bat forest, which does have a very strong smell, but also an experience I have never had in another zoo before. It made it more personal. The only other little niggle is at some enclosures it felt like there was a few missed opportunities to have a viewing point. However I feel like the reason for this is so the animals don’t feel overlooked and I would soon rather come back later on to see if the animal is out, than them feel like they don’t have much privacy. On that note that brings my two negatives to the end.
Things to look out for are the rather intimidating crocodile, the fascinating sloths, which have such amazing core strength when they just hang for ages above you. The penguins were so much fun to watch and so much more. The only animal we didn’t get to see unfortunately, and it is my favourite animal, is the tiger. Reason being was we think they had just been fed. Out of over 500 different species though, not seeing one of them is pretty good going! For the price you pay (for an adult £29.54 without a donation, £32.50 with donation) it is worth every penny. There also wasn’t much different in price compared to a local zoo which didn’t have anywhere near as much. Like I said it is the best zoo by far I’ve been to, and you see so much! I would definitely recommend this to anyone, even if you don’t have a family like my boyfriend and I, we still loved it. They have lots of other experiences for you to try at an additional cost, so you can get even more up and closer to the animals. There is also a boat ride you can do which I think is free. By the end of the day, our feet were killing but that’s probably a sign of a good day! I will leave a link here if you wanted to have a look at their website. This is a zoo perfect for animal lovers and you will not regret going.
Chester Zoo is a day I will remember for a long time.
Amy x
littlemissminor 