INTRODUCTION

Recently me and my husband had a few well deserved days away, we took a three night break in Chester which turned out to be one of the best breaks we have ever had.

After relaxing for few days we decided to go and visit Chester zoo as this is a place that I have heard many good reports about and seen many of good review about here on dooyoo, so I was happy to check it out for myself.

ABOUT THE ZOO & ZOO HISTORY

Chester zoo has been very popular for well over sixty years, since it was opened in 1931. So with over sixty years worth of success it has now become the United Kingdom's biggest Zoo and is held in very high regard by many people across the globe.

The zoo now takes pride in its one hundred and ten acre setting, which is home to over seven thousand animals and more than four hundred of them being of a different species, which are very rare, endangered or exotic wildlife.

So with over seven thousand animals to feed you can clearly see why Chester Zoo spends over £200.000 every year on feeding the animals alone, not to mention the cost of staffing, zoo maintenance and animal welfare costs that will also en cure throughout the year. With these costs in mind the Zoo offers membership and sponsorship programmes, which help raise money to care for the zoo and all of its animals to a very high standard.

The most talked about aspect at the zoo, apart from the animals is the zoo's spectacular gardens as they are laced with exotic plants and animals. Here you will encounter many different parts of the world as each section of the gardens are representing certain areas and therefore reflect the habitats of the animals and species, which are house within the garden area.

WHAT CHESTER ZOO HAS TO OFFER

Chester zoo has so much to offer its visitors, it has many exhibits to house its many animals each of which are maintained to a very high standard, without over crowding the animals. This was very good to see as many zoos do cram the animals into their cages and I personally feel this is a form of cruelty, so I was very pleased this didn't happen here.

There is also hand full of main exhibits that home many different animals, each exhibit is specially made to make the animals feel like they are in their own habitat, for example heat is provided for animals which originate from hot counties and some exhibits are darkened etc, to make the animals housed there feel at home.

The Realm of the ape is an Indonesian themed exhibit that is designed and decorated like a forest, here you will walk through thick trees and rock formations, while doing this you will catch a glimpse of Orang Utans, monkeys and Gibbons. I found the Ourang Utans really hard to spot to first as they were all hiding from us, but you could hear and see the Gibbons and monkeys, they were not shy in anyway.

If elephants are your thing then you will love the Asian Forest, as it is a massive span of land that is home to some spectacular looking elephants. This was a very smelly exhibit so I did find myself holding my sleeve over my nose to disguise the vile smell. I would still recommend you take a look at this as it is also home to many other animals, which are really cute to coo over.

The Twilight bat cave boasts that is the biggest free flying bat enclosure in the whole of Europe, not that this means a lot to me as it was by far the worst experience I have ever had in my entire life. Just imagine it hundreds of free flying bats whipping about above your head and you are completely in the dark, with the exception of few tiny LED lights to help guide you through and one decides to fly into your long hair and get tangled up, so badly you are screaming and they have to drag me out of the enclosure so zoo keepers can remove the bat from my hair safely. I would have happily let them cut off my hair to get it out of my hair, I found the whole experience horrific but my hubby and other visitors found it very amusing which only added to my distress.

On a much nicer note you can visit a parrot breeding centre, snake and reptile exhibit, penguins and much more.

All of the exhibits are accessible by foot but if you walk round the zoo it is unlikely that you will be able to see everything the zoo has to show off, if there are certain areas you want to see then you can catch a little train for £2.00 for a ticket that permits you to use the train twice.

HOW TO FIND THE ZOO

The zoo is located in Chester which is situated in the North West of England, so you need to get to the M56 and exit at junction 14 on to the M53 and then exit at junction 12, which will take you in to Chester's town centre.

From the exit on the M53 the zoo is very well sign posted so it will be very difficult to get lost, if you want a little bit of reassurance then you can put the zoos post code CH2 1EU into any sat nav to get you there safely.

CONTACT DETAILS

Chester Zoo
Caughall Road, Upton, Chester, CH2 1 LH
TEL: 01224380280.

ZOO PROMOTIONS

As I have stated before the zoo needs all of the money it can get, so if offers many programmes to help raise money to keep the zoo running. Here are some of the things that the zoo, are offering to help raise this money.

You can take up a zoo membership for £40.00 a year, with this you will get unlimited access to Chester zoo and other zoos around the country, discount in the zoo's shops and restaurants and after twenty five years you will gain a lifetime membership free of charge. I do feel that this twenty five year bracket at paid 40.00 a year is a bit excessive and I would be very surprised if anyone actually keeps a membership for 25 years.

If the zoo membership is not for you, then you can join an adoption scheme which costs as little as £50.00 a year. With 50% of the zoo's animals being classed as endangered you can pick which one in particular you would like to adopt.

If you decide to help these endangered animals you will receive a certification, invite only days at the zoo, photographs of your adopted animal and two free passes to enter the zoo, which need to be used within your adoption period.

COST

I personally feel that the zoos prices are very reasonable, compared to other zoo's around the UK.

Adults can expect to pay £14.95 and £1.00 of this goes to the north England's Zoological society, which you can object to paying if you really want to, but I feel £14.95 is a more than fair price as you do get to see a lot.

Children's prices do vary according to their age, children under three get in free of charge, children aged between 3-15 years old cost £10.95 and pensioners get charged £13.50.

OPENING TIMES

Chester zoo is open every day of the year, except from Christmas day and Boxing Day, when the animals get to spend Christmas together.

The park is open from 10.00am until 6.00pm daily, I strongly advise that you get to the zoo before dinner time to ensure you see everything as it can take hours and if you take part in a bat rescue like I did.

MY OPINION

I really enjoyed my visit to the zoo and I highly recommend it to all of you if you have never paid a visit, I promise you will not be disappointed.

I loved that the day could have been as rushed as you would want to be of as relaxed as you wanted to be, I was personally feeling a little bit delicate to we took the train around the zoo and strolled around the gardens when I got tired, so it is a day that you could take your granny on without worrying that you will kill her off.

There is a lot of walking involved so I strongly advise that you wear suitable shoe, if you don't you will regret it.

Scattered around the zoo is shops and cafes so you can buy something to eat and have a drink whenever you feel like it. We found these to be very well priced so there was no need to take our own food, so I will not recommend it unless you have children who always want as this will cost you a fortune.