Only 22 reviews to catch up on and then I'm posting one myself!!
Only 22 reviews to catch up on and then I'm posting one myself!!
Member since:19.01.2004
Reviews:23
Members who trust:51
Well hello! As some of you may know I come from a place called Chester and one of the most poignant aspects of Chester that nearly everyone knows about is Chester Zoo. It is now officially THE leading zoo in Britain and has an ever growing number and range of animals from all over the world (which we will come to later).
Not only is it the zoo packed with exotic and lovely animals, it is also packed with the most beautiful and luxurious gardens you might ever see. I hope to think that this review will bring more than just basics facts about the zoo because I have insider knowledge.. I used to work there!! Hehe! So I will be letting you in on some little secrets they probably didn't want you to know ;-) … Read on my pretties… read on…..
The Mission Statement ================== "The role of the Zoo is to support and promote conservation by breeding threatened species, by excellent animal welfare, high quality public service, recreation, education and science."
How would you get there? ==================== Being from Chester I can pretty much tell you how to get there by walking, buses, road and rail!
**Bus** It's really easy if you get the bus. All you need to do is get to the town hall which is smack bang in the middle of town and get the number 1 for the main entrance or number 4 for the staff entrance (look out for secret number one!). the buses come ever half an hour but I find the number one bus is usually a little late. For bank holidays, Sundays you will have to get the Arriva 411 or 412 which will only take you to the main entrance.
**Car** It's ok by car, just follow the brown Chester Zoo signs which I promise you are EVERYWHERE!! The first signs come from the M56 junction 14 or the M53 junction 12. It is also very clearly signed all along the A41 Chester road
**Foot and Rail** It's a huge trek by foot, about a 2 hour walk if you are coming from the train station so I strongly suggest you don't do it! The train station is nooooo where near the zoo, so I strongly suggest a taxi which is usually parked just outside the station.. and here is secret number one!!
Ssshhhh…. If you get a taxi, ask to go to the staff entrance, this is the entrance that used to be the main public one but was changed due to a new staff car park being built. You can however still get in this way and if you go with a pretty large group, say more than 5 and your party is mainly children.. the guy on the gate will let you in for either free or cheap! I've done it many a time but ssshhh!
HOW MUCH?!?!?! ============== Yeah, admission charges have been steadily growing since forever! When I was a nipper I can remember being taken to the zoo and it costing something like £1.50 for the day and my mum thought that was too much! Well mum's and dad's.. you may be in for a shock..
Between the dates of 19th March - 29th October 2005 it will be Adults £14.50 Children (3-15) £10.50 (dude I know.. sheesh!) Concessions £13.00 Family (which is 2 adults and 2 kids) £47.50 (ooowwww!!) - each extra child is £10.50 and extra adult is £13.00) - Under 3's (thankfully) are free
Between 30th October 2005 - 7th April 2006 it will be Adults £10.50 * Children (3 to 15yrs) £7.50 Concessions £9.50 * Family (2 plus 2) £33.00* each extra child in family £7.50 Under 3's free OR if you are going as a group of 15 or more up from 19th March until 31st of August.. Adults £10.50 Children £9.00 Concessions £9.00 Under 3's free
..and 1st September 2005 and 7th April 2006.. Adults £7.50 Children (3 to 15 yrs) £6.50 Concessions £6.50 Under 3's free
Chester
zoo would like to inform you that even though these prices are extortionate, they will be asking you for an extra £1 per adult "optional donation" towards their orang-utan appeal.. but the way they ask you it is more like give me your money.. or you will be ruining the animals lives. It's very hard to say no!
This may sound really really expensive but when you think about it, you are going to see 500 different species and over 7000 animals, it really isn't to bad, and you students, you count in concessions! WOOP.
110 acres.. how do I know where to go? ============================== Well I can tell you, I worked there for nearly a year and I got lost all the time! And when I first started I was 30 minutes late because I just couldn't figure out where to go! Even now after I have been approximately a gongillion times, I just can't figure out whether the chimps house is by the reptile house or by the camels.. !! But then again I have a slight downfall.. I cant read maps! Give me a map and you might as well give me a piece of writing in Hebrew because it means squat to me. So I will point out now, Chester Zoo isn't map less and it isn't some sort of strange vortex! There are maps absolutely everywhere on big massive boards which have wop off red arrows to tell you where you are in the park. There is also the ability to pick up a map from the gates for three pounds, a bit steep for a map.. so here is secret number two..
Ssshhh… if you go into any one of the three café's there are in the zoo and tell one of the staff you have lost your map, they don't even bother asking you if you have a receipt to prove you bought a map they just hand out the maps they have picked off tables. Finder's keepers as they say but ssshhh!
There is another way to get around the big enclosure without wasting your little footies and perfect for disabled people to and that is the monorail. £2 for an adult or £1.50 for a child you get two rides. There is a silly rule about it though, when you get on, the first station you come to no matter what station it is, you have to get off. So I tell you what I do, I walk the first station and see everything around that area. I then get on the train and go to the back of the park and see everything there is to see there and then get the train back to the middle, see what is there and walk the short distance back to the front, that is the only way you get your monies worth. During summer the monorail is really really busy and there are usually big queues. But in December these prices fall.. depending on the weather! You can also higher a wheelchair or scooter for those of you who are disabled. The manual wheelchairs are £3.50 hire with a £5 deposit or an electric scooter or chair for £7 with a £10 deposit. Hehe and this bit makes me laugh.. you have to undergo a driving test when you're hiring an elecy scooter!! Hehehe And finally, there is the waterbus! WOOP, this is a trip on the man made Chester Zoo river but it is very rarely open when I have been because it is too busy. The trip is 12-15 minutes and does not hold passengers in wheelchairs.. sorry guys =(
Where shall I go first? ================= As you enter the zoo immediately in front of you and just to the right is Britain's largest and most successful herd of elephants. I strongly suggest that this is your first point of call! If you go in late April you are more than likely to see a little baby elephant all fresh and new playing with him mumma! The enclosure is absolutely mammoth and goes a good way around. There is a massive swimming pool and rocks for them to rub up against! There is also something which I think is just aces and that is the educational displays they have all around the enclosure.
The have a big wooden representation of a baby elephant which is perfect for a lovely snapshot! In fact I think ive got a picky of Daniel on it.. must hunt that out! There is also lots of little wooden flip boards for you to read about elephants, find out where they come from and the types of species there are, you can feel what one of their feet feel like and there is also a GIANT poo sample! This basically tells you how much poo one elephant creates in a week! Amazing.
My top 10 places I think you should check out =================================== 10) I love the bat cave! This is a big ass cave full of bats that are free to roam! But you have to duck when going through the main tunnel because they tend to fly really low and through your hair! It is also really smelly because the temperature in there has to be really warm because they are exotic bats from around the world, not just rainy England! And as you can probably expect, the cave is the spitting image of a real cave, dark and full of stones! It's really funny though to just sit, relax and watch them all have little fights over which bit of wire which one of them can sit on!
9) the reptile house is another one of my favs because in the little hot house there is an amazingly large number is lizards and snakes to peer at, loose flying birds with pretty colours on them, alligators and crocodiles and my bestest most favourite fishes! Only these ones are huuuuge and you are allowed to stroke them! I love feeling their little slippy sliddy scales and they love to be touched, constantly swimming next to you to rub up against your fingers, just lovely!
8) the tropical house is number eight because I just love the brightly coloured fishes and the shapes and sizes they come in. there is also a pretty impressive large tank full of stingrays, they are so cute floaty! In the tropical house there is a little ledge that children can step on so they can see the tanks, for some reason they are pretty high off the floor, I'm not sure why. Here is a little bit of trivia for ya! The Beckham's came to the zoo once and got the keepers and their body guards to evacuate the house so that Brooklyn could have a look around in peace! CHEEK!!
7) the jaguars house, sponsored by Jaguar the car company this is a huge inside enclosure for 3 jags.. no not the cars the panther like animals. This place to has loads of educational things for you to do. Such things as smell boxes which lull you into a false sense of security! Here is secret number three!!
Ssshhh.. don't smell the smell boxes when you get to the end.. the rest of them are nice things like vanilla and coffee.. the last one is jaguar wee!! STAY CLEAR!!.. but ssshhh!
6) lions and tigers pens are opposite each other and it is so nice to see these guys playing about with each other. I will give you a tip, go when it is warm but not hot or cold because when it is hot the lions do nothing but sunbathe and when it is cold they just bog off inside their hut.. so inconsiderate!! I love to see them fed as well, they go mad for the meat and growl and roar when they see their keeper! 5) penguins are just so so cool! They swim and they dive and they swim and they waddle! And a tip, if you want to get your kids really excited and pleased with themselves, the penguins love blue and if you lean a blue fleece or piece of cloth up against the side of the tank they will follow it like a cat follows a piece of string! It is really funny and the kids love it.
4) o man, you must go and see the meerkats! They are in this really super cool tank with access to an outside enclosure. We walked round there once and as we walked around the tank all of them stood up on their back legs and just all stared in our direction with a look of sheer terror on their faces! It was absolutely side splittingly funny just see 30 little guys staring at you like an alien! Oooh, must go see them must must must!
3) the sea lions are also so cool, the splish splash around and make their funny noise and they have a rock barrier that they love jumping. The best time to go and see them is feeding time but get there 10 minutes early because they are the most popular when it comes to feeding and finding a space will be really difficult and you might miss it. They do a routine when feeding them, it's a bit like tricks but it's for the benefit of the vets who check them out as they are performing their tricks.
2) orang-utans are ace and so funny! They have a small outside enclosure but are rarely out there because they love their inside hut where they have swings and sacks to play with. The babies are the cutest and best to watch because they just fling themselves about! Hilarious.
1) and my most fav place to go in the zoo ever is the monkey house. There are I would say about 45 chimps in this house with an extended outside enclosure and they love to play. There is a ginormous
Pictures of Chester Zoo
a bat
climbing frame with ropes to swing on surrounded by a glass cage where everyone can see them. They love to interact with their audience and will often copy what you are doing! Here is something you probably think is ace.. the chimps backstage have a TV.. and their favourite show of all is Eastenders! Isn't that cool!!!Gifts, eating, drinking.. more secrets! ======================== During the summer months there are three gifts shops, the arara, the fountain and the ark but during the winter, the arara shuts and all stock is transferred to the biggest shop, the ark. The ark is the shop next to the elephants and is perfectly situated for when you have finished your day and want a souvenir, for which there are thousands! They sell books, postcards, teddies, stationary, jewellery, you name it, you want it, they got it! The fountain is smack bang in the middle of the zoo just by the lions and is also pretty big! You will find they sell the more expensive stuff like pottery because it isn't too busy and kids wont be running around knocking it all off! The shops also sell things like rain macks and umbrellas.. secret number four!
Ssshhh.. when it is raining or it has forcast to rain, all the shops put up their prices on umbrellas and macks, so get them somewhere else because you could end up spending extortionate amounts! And it is no lie, they will do it right there and then, just a quick price tag swop. But ssshhh!!
If you want something to eat or drink there are in the summer months little kiosks located everywhere around the zoo and sell cold drinks, sweets and ice creams. During colder months these are closed because they don't have the staff to man them.
If you want a more hearty meal then you could go to one of the two restaurants; the ark restaurant or the Oasis café, where I worked! They sell hot and cold foods like chips and pizzas, burgers and hot dogs. The have vegetarian courses like baked potatoes and sandwhichs with a wide range of fillings. They also sell ice creams and hot drinks.. secret number 5!
Sshhh.. don't tell them I told you but they do the same thing with their prices as the gift shops do. If it is forcasted hot, ice creams and cold drinks go up an average 10-20p each. If the weather is bad, the ice creams go down in price to temp you with them being quite cheap and the hot drink sand foods go up by the same average. Very cheeky I know, so bring your own food is always my suggestion! There are tons of places to picnic on but ssshhh!
Education.. meh! ============= As I pointed out before there are loads of educational bits and bobs scattered throughout the park and on every enclosure there is a plaque about that animal with all the info you would need. In fact the zoo describes its educational toys as multi-sensory experiences that are hands on. I love playing with them because even being 19 I am still learning about animals. Like did you know an elephant is the size of a blue whales tongue?? No bet you didn't, I learnded that from the elephants enclosure!
Things you might want to know ======================== There are loads of adoption schemes available for you and you can adompt any one of the animals they have. What is cool about adoption is you can pick the very animal you want, such as Anna the chimp, and your name will go underneath her plaque! Groovy eh?
You can also make a note in your Will that you want to give a donation to the charity, which I reckon is a really good idea and I never even thought about that or knew you could do it.
You can also become a member at a pretty good annual way if you go often.
ADULT under 65 years - £55 pa 65 years and over - £46 pa JOINT both under 65 - £90 pa one over 65 - £81 pa both over 65 - £72 pa JUNIOR 3-17 years - £24 pa
And finally, if you are a tax payer then you are able to sign a quick form which says you pay tax and for every pound you spend, the zoo will get 28p from the government under new tax laws, this is called gift aid and because there is no cost to you, I really don't see why you shouldn't just quickly sign the form?!
What are they like as employers then? ========================= Thought I might add a little about what the zoo is like as an employer. I joined the zoo looking for a summer job and that is what I got. They are excellent payers, £5.50 or something like that for a 16 year old which climbs as you get older. You get double pay for bank holidays and can get time and a half if you work over 39 hours a week. Sweet! But I left because unfortunately, my supervisor was a complete power mad biatch! She obviously has no intention of ever getting a proper job and has absolutely no more than 2 brain cells and got some weird kick out of shouting at me.. she always smiled when she pointed out something I hadn't done and could shout at me for. Grrr I hated her!! So guys, don't go and work in the Oasis café!
Info you may need ============== http://www.chesterzoo.co.uk this site tell you evvverything you may need to know!
What does Sarah Bear have to say then? ================================ I go to the zoo at least once a year because I just love it, plus it was the place I had my first date and my first anniversary with Daniel! It was also the place of my first job (crap as it was!). And it is also the place that 3 of my friends work so I can often get a little discount hehe! I have to say I absolutely love it and could never get bored of it, if I could I would just walk around it every day and watch the animals because they are so natural and just don't care about other people so go about their daily thing. It fascinates me.
I would so recommend this place to families, to people who enjoy walking and to any animal lovers because the variation of animals is so vast that there will be a place for you to go! For kids there is a dinky little farm yard with goats that you are allowed to pet OO and I just remembered, there is a little stretch of grass that has been raised and little tunnels made underneath it. The kids can go into these tunnels and up into little bubbles on the surface and lie among these little creatures! I cant for the life of me remember what animals they are but they are small of furry and kids jut adore running into these tunnels and having a nose! Fantastic idea.
So all in all I say, guys, you have to visit this place at least once and take all of my little secrets into account! They will save you a fortune and in the case of the jaguar example, save you from throwing up your lunch from 1965!
Well that's everything I think. Hope you've enjoyed my little secrets and I hope there is enough info there to get you through a happy day at Britain's and my favourite zoo! Thanks for reading xx
O just forgot!.. if you want to know what time everything opens and closes, there is a massive list on the zoo's website. O and they do weddings, I'm going to a zoo wedding next year! Cool eh? Ok, that's all, thanks!
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