The best Zoo I've ever been to!

“The best Zoo I've ever been to!”

Written on: 25/07/2012 by SindyBlonde (7 reviews written)

I was down in Essex visiting my brother and his family last week and to give the kids (4 in total) something to do we visited Colchester Zoo on the Sunday. None of us had ever been before so we really didn't know what to expect - I must admit I had doubts. However the Zoo was "BRILLIANT" and I don't say that lightly.

The car park is huge (grass which was a bit odd) but with bags of room for everyone to get out and put up buggies etc. The entrance hall is big and undercover (not necessary on the day we went) and as you go through to arre confront with a life size model of a Giraffe in a multitude of colours. Behind that is a huge play park with slides and a shot that are about 3 stories high. The kids probably spent about an hour in there before we even considered looking at any animals (there's even giant musical instruments for the tiny kids - so everyone was happy and entertained.

After that we stopped for some food in a KFC style place next door. OK the food wasn't spectacular, but it was similar fair to that which you'd get in other theme parks and the prices seemed considerably less. I still shocked by the £7 I paid for a hotdog at EuroDisney last year so this was a very pleasant surprise.

We then undertook a whirlwind tour of the Zoo, but I doubt we saw half of it. We did get to see the Lions (Meerkats opposite), Rhinos, Giraffe and Elephants (which we fed!). The kids loved all the animals, but there were also additional play parks dotted about for them to burn of excess energy and excitement. Then on the way out (after taking a road train to see the Limas up close - ie. In their cage!) we saw Tiger (briefly), Wolves, Hunting Dogs, Komodo Dragons and more. All the animals seemed content and well cared for - not like the Zoo's I remember from my childhood.

The way out is inevitably through the gift shop, but I actually didn't resent it this time. Everything in the zoo is so reasonably priced you don't feel like you're a cog in a giant money making machine.

All in all we had a great day at Colchester Zoo and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone and we'll definitely be going back! (my brother's family are actually looking at annual ticket now - which also sound a bargain).