ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

The last time we went to Whipsnade Zoo was when Munchkin was about 4/5 years old. She is now 9 and kept asking to go again. So off we went with the aid of some Tesco Clubcard Vouchers I had saved up. (I love those vouchers for days out!)

The last time we went we parked in the car park and walked into the zoo. The zoo is large…. 600 acres to be exact, and home to over 2500 animals. Due to the scale, there is a free bus that drives round the zoo, stopping at certain areas. Last time we went we used the bus, but often ended up walking a lot as we didn’t want to wait for the bus. Our feet didn’t thank us at the end of the day.

This time we decided to pay the extra £22 and take the car in. Although we found the cost slightly excessive, especially if you are paying the full price for tickets to get in in the first place, having the car did make the day better for us. The zoo isn’t a safari park so you still have to park up and get out and walk to the animals. But it was handy having the car with my elderly parents as if they got tired or cold  they could just sit in the car while the rest of us ventured out to see the animals. Another bonus is that you aren’t carrying your picnic around with you if you have one and can just leave it in the back of the car.

Whipsnade Zoo is one of our favourites to visit. There is so much to do and this time there was the added bonus of them having a new butterfly house.

The zoo is split into different areas. Base Camp, Asia, Africa and Europe. There is a train that goes through Asia, getting you closer to the animals but you have to pay extra for this. If you take your car you  can drive through parts of Asia, ‘Passage through Asia’ where you can get close to the deer and camels.

Whipsnade also has numerous events taking place throughout the day including:

• Lemur Breakfast
• Chimp Chat
• Birds of the World Display
• White Rhino Talk
• Hippo Chat
• Sealion Splash
• Crocodile Talk
• Peckish Penguins
• Cheetah Chat
• Giant Giraffes

If this isn’t enough they also have an indoor and outdoor play area and the girls favourite: Hullabazoo Farm. The girls loved getting close to some animals, which included bunnies, guinea pigs, sheep and lambs, with their favourites being the friendly goats who they could stroke.

Sadly we didn’t get time to play in the play areas as we spent most of the time looking at the animals but the play area outside did look like so much fun for the children. We also didn’t go to any of the talks as we had been to them last time, and Bee was unlikely to sit for long through a talk. She just hates sitting down!

However we had a lovely time and Whipsnade is definitely one of our favourite zoos. We noticed that they have ‘Lookout Lodges’ where you can spend the night in the zoo. That is something we will consider the next time we visit!

Our ultimate favourite part was the walk through lemur area. We were lucky in that the time we walked through they were very active and jumping around. You can see a clip of them towards the end of the youtube video below. It was so cute to see the baby lemurs on the back of their mums. We also saw the chimps just before it was their bedtime so got to see them while they came in to have their food and settle down for the night.

Here’s a short video of pictures we took at the zoo and short clips.

 

We would definitely recommend visiting ZSL Whipsnade Zoo!