Getting up close and personal with wildlife (Paradise Wildlife Park)

Member Name: karalouk

Product:	Paradise Wildlife Park
Date:	26/03/09 (474 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can get close to lots of the animals, a good day out for all ages, adventure play area

Disadvantages: Entry free a little excessive?

Paradise Wildlife Park is situated in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. It is easy to get to by car (junction 25 off the M25) and is well signed up. The park have also set up a free shuttle service from Broxbourne train station to Paradise Wildlife park - just call the park when you arrive at the station and they'll come and collect you in a mini bus!

The park is open all year round (March - October: 9.30am - 6.00pm. November - February: 10am - 5pm). Tickets cost £13.00 for adults, £10.00 for children (2-15 years), £10.00 for senior citizens, £7.00 for guests with disabilities, £22.00 for a family of 2 and £44.00 for a family of 4. Infants under 2 go free.

The park is passionate about conservation, charity and educating children about animals and the importance of conservation (they invite schools to the park aswell as visiting schools with some furry friends in tow).

I have visited Pardise Wildlife Park more times that I would like to admit to. The last time I visited was last month so that's primarily what I'll be basing this review on.

When you arrive at Paradise Wildlife Park you drive up a driveway which has the zoo on one side and adventure playground on the other side. At the end of the driveway is a cabin where you pay for your tickets and pick up your map, you then drive into the car park. The car park isn't huge but I have never not been able to get a space, even when it's been packed out.

If you have kids you have the choice of either starting your day off with the childrens activites or the zoo. Usually I would have started with the zoo but last time I visited I was with my daughter and nephew and they were adamant to play first, so that's what we did.

During the summer months there is a free of charge large paddling pool area called 'The Paradise Lagoon' so don't forget to bring your swimming stuff. This isn't open to the public during the autumn, winter or spring months.

A place for adults to unwind and children to let off some steam is in the 'Tumble Jungle' which is a big indoor padded play area. There is a Starbucks which sells drinks and snacks and has a seating area. I had a sit down on the sofa with a cup of tea whilst the kids had a crazy half an hour.

Next up is a huge adventure playground with all different kinds of equipment. The playground has everything from slides to swings, and climbing frames to tunnels. There is even an area for children with disabilities called 'The Special Place' which is really nice. The playground has different themes (such as The Pirates Cove) and a real life fire truck and train to explore. There is a 'Woodland Train' which is a small steam train ride which is decorated to look just like Thomas The Tank Engine - it takes you around the forest where some dinosaurs are hidden and the fee is £1 a ride per person. If you prefer to explore the woodland by foot then the 'Woodland walk' would be a good choice - you might get to see a red deer, fox or owl.. however I've never seen anything in there! Everything in the playground (except the woodland train and panning for gold) is free for everybody to enjoy.

There is a restaurant next to the playground which has a indoor and outdoor seating area. This is primarily a fast food restaurant but they sell a variety of different food.

Outside the restaurant there is a zebra crossing which you have to cross to get over to the zoo.

The zoo itself is quiet small but they have a good selection of animals. The first enclosures you come to are caoti, meerkats, wolves and lions. There are stairs leading up to a viewing deck for the wolves and lions. Nearby is a toucan house with a selection of tropical birds. The next animals are the zebras, capabaras, maras, taipers, wallabees and meerkats. There is a tunnel that goes underneath the meerkat encloure for kids to crawl through and pop up in the middle through a little window! Next to the meerkat encloure is a relatively new penguin enclosure. Nearby is the rainforest excibition which is an indoor house which is home to tamarin, squirrel monkey, marmosets, armadillo and gorgeous two toed sloth. Because of the animals which are being housed in the forest excibition the climate is warm and humid, which makes it really smelly and quite uncomfatable if you stay in there for too long. Outside of the rainforest exibition are the emus, reindeers, alpacas and camels. You can also catch a free tractor ride around the park from this part of the park.

The 'Angkor Reptile Temple' in an indoor area which is home to different species of snakes, lizards, tarantula, tortoises and aligator. Outside the temple is the red panda and otter enclosure. You can stop here for an ice cream and toilet stop - not the two together I hope!

Next up are the big cats which include 2 siberian tigers, 1 white tiger and 1 jaguar. They are all amazing to see but my favourite has to be the jaguar as I've never seen one in captivity before. They are all kept in clean, quite large and enriched encloures and all seem happy but I do find it a little hard watching big cats in captivity. There is an indoor area where the big cats sleep at night which you can walk through but beware - it really stinks. The next big cats are the snow leopards which have a set of stairs which lead up to a viewing deck.

The next lot of animals are the pallas cats, ocelots, fox, geoffreys cat, cheaters and more lions. There is an overhead deck to look over the cheater and new lion enclosure.

You then move on to the farmyard where there are chickens, sheep, goats, a skunk, mice, hedgehog, pigs and guinea pig. Next to the farmyard are lots of different types of lemurs and an oppourtunity for the kids to get their faces painted (I think it costs around £2.00 and it's very well done!).

Nearing the exit of the park are mccaws, parrots and a rabbit town. There are a few childrens activities at the exit including a helter skelter, 2 bouncy castles and a merry-go-round which are all free of charge (which I thought was a fantastic idea). There is also adventure golf, arcade machines and a food stand which have to be paid for. The last part before making your way to the carpark is a pond (good for having picnics around in the summer) and a giftshop.

Unlike a lot of zoos Paradise Wildlife Park offers the public the oppourtunity of getting up close and personal to the animals. Many of the animals are in reach of the public and can be touched and stroked. You can buy food (compromising of different vegetables) for £1.00 a bag and these can be fed by hand to animals such as zebras, reindeers, camels, emus and the farm animals. If you take a liking to a particular animals you can also adopt one for a fee (not sure how much as I haven't done it).

In the car park, away from the zoo is a walkway where you come to the birds of prey section of the park. They have different species of owls and falcons, where the keepers perform frequent shows and talks with them.

You can also purchase an experience package which includes shadowing a keeper, shadowing a reptile keeper,shadowing a big cat keeper, meet the meerkats, face your phobia, feed the lemurs, magic day and feed the big cats. These experiences are truly fantastic but don't come cheap and cost between £90 - £250.

The only downsides I can really think of is that the entry fee is a little overpriced - I have been to plenty of other zoos which have a larger selection of animals (elephants, rhinos, sealions, giraffes etc) at the same entry price. The food is a little overpriced too but isn't excessive.

Overall a really good day, especially if you visit in the summer where you can also have picnics, use the paddling pool and get a sun tan at the same time! Best suited for children, adults, couples, families and of course - animal lovers.

Summary: Have a ROARING good time, ay!