I live in North Leeds and was wondering where I could go with my son that was local, not too expensive and that wee bit different - the answer Tropical World! I can't believe that I have lived in Leeds for 9 years and never been there before. I arrived at 10am to have 20 school kids in the queue in front of me and when I left there must have been at least 2 more school groups on their way in.

It cost me £3 for myself and my son was free. If I had a Leeds card I would have got in for free. To be honest £3 was a fair price so I can't complain.

On entering you are in the middle of their shop and they have lots to offer. I feel that the toys were a little over priced so we never bought anything but the variety was certainly impressive. It was a warm day and I could feel the heat in the building as soon as I walked in. Luckily there was a drinks vending machine and so I purchased a cold can which helped. I'd have probably passed out in the heat (being pregnant made the heat that bit more unbearable).

You follow a path all the way round and considering it's not a zoo I think it is very well done. We first walked through and saw Newts, and some sort of fish in their tanks. My son was mesmorised and didn't know where to look first. There were signs beside each animal clearly stating what it is and a little bit about them. We then entered another part which had the butterflies flying freely around. Following the trail round we then entered other areas which boosted, large fish, terapins, some sort of ducks, parrots, little monkey like animals (my son went crazy over them), bats, degu, mice,and plenty more. The merekats were on holiday or so the signage said.

The nocturnal area was very dark as expected and I did find it quite hard to see where I was going. My son was a bit scared at this point. I was relieved that the bats weren't flying freely around us but behind glass. I've been to Chester zoo where they are allowed to fly around us and I was terrified.

There was some construction work being done and I can't wait to see what animals will be living there.

We spent about an hour there in total but we could have spent longer.

It's a brilliant place and worth a visit.

In my opinion it's the sort of place you want to go back with young children as each time they go they will learn something new and appreciate it more and more.