Loro Parque (Loro Parque)

Member Name: catherine21

Product:	Loro Parque
Date:	18/08/09 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of amazing animals, Animals are well looked after

Disadvantages: A little bit pricey

Loro Parque is located in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife, up in the north of the island.

The name Loro Parque means Parrot Park in Spanish, which is exactly what is was when it first opened back in 1972 and was home to just 150 parrots. Now, it is 10 times its original size and houses all sorts of animals including gorillas, dolphins, killer whales, tigers, giant tortoises, penguins, meerkats and of course parrots.

Loro Parque's primary focus is conservation, and all of their animals were either bred in captivity and would have been unable to go back to the wild, or have been rescued from certain death. One example of this is their penguins. Loro Parque decided they wanted to house penguins, so went to the Antarctic to research their living conditions and how they could best provide for them. Whilst over there, they found almost 100 eggs which had been abandoned, and the penguins inside would have been left to die. These are the penguins which now live in Loro Parque, as they brought them back and housed them in the "Penguinarium". This area is designed to recreate the atmosphere and conditions of the Antarctic.

As well as being able to look at the animals in their various environments, some of the animals are involved in shows throughout the day. For example, the dolphins and the orca whales have enormous pools surrounded by seating for people to view them jumping out of the water and playing games with their trainers. I'm sure some people may think this is cruel, but the animals seem so happy, and an orca whale is of such a size that if it didn't want to co-operate with the trainers, no-one could force it too!

One of the highlights of our day out there was the Discovery Tour. This was a guided tour behind the scenes of Loro Parque, which showed you things such as the workings of the Penguinarium, the gorillas' sleeping areas and the orca whales, but from under the water as you could go through corridors that went round at the bottom of their pools. They have English guides for the English tours, and we were told lots of information about the park that other visitors wouldn't know.

There are various areas around the park where you can stop for a rest, such as the Gambian market and the Thai village, which are all designed and built to look as authentic as possible. There are a variety of places to get something to eat, ranging from fairly cheap sandwiches, to a more expensive bbq grill restaurant, and lots in between.

The cost of a day at Loro Parque is around 30Euro for an adult, and it's around 10Euro extra for the optional Discovery Tour. Child prices were less, but we didn't have any children in the party, so I'm not sure of the exact price. This is a bit expensive, however, Loro Parque really does give you a full day of entertainment, and the opportunity to see some amazing animals.

I would highly recommend Loro Parque to anyone visiting Tenerife. It's got a fantastic range of animals who are well cared for and do seem to be happy there. The park is clean and well looked after, and gives lots of information about conservation and what the organisation is doing to look after animals. This is a great day out for people of any age, and those who care about animals will not be disappointed with the way they are looked after.

Summary: A great day out and definitely worth a trip if you are in Tenerife