Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park

Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park is located in the resort of Port El Kantoui in Tunisia.

Location
Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park is located right in the centre of Port El Kantoui about a 2 minute walk away from the main shopping square and the Marina. I have to admit that this attraction isn't too well signposted and we actually stumbled across it by accident as we were taking a walk around the town.

Cost
...day.

Inside Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park
At the entrance to the park there is a large table with a man sitting behind it, this is where you need to pay for your entrance into the park. Also here, you are offered food for the animals, there are 2 different types of food, some sort of pellets that are suitable for the camels and goats and then there is corn for the birds. Each bag only cost 1 dinar so we bought a bag of each.
more

Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park is located in the resort of Port El Kantoui in Tunisia.

Location
Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park is located right in the centre of Port El Kantoui about a 2 minute walk away from the main shopping square and the Marina. I have to admit that this attraction isn't too well signposted and we actually stumbled across it by accident as we were taking a walk around the town.

Cost
Entrance to this attraction was actually very cheap, only 5 dinars per adult which is about £2. Admission for children was only 2.5 dinars so I thought this attraction offered great value for money.

Opening Hours
The opening hours are from 9am until 8pm every day.

Inside Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park
At the entrance to the park there is a large table with a man sitting behind it, this is where you need to pay for your entrance into the park. Also here, you are offered food for the animals, there are 2 different types of food, some sort of pellets that are suitable for the camels and goats and then there is corn for the birds. Each bag only cost 1 dinar so we bought a bag of each.

On the right hand side as you enter the park, you will see two enclosures. The largest enclosure held 2 camels which were quite young and very friendly. The moment they saw we had food, they got up and came over to eat from our hands. Although the enclosures were not as large as I would have liked, they were still of a reasonable size and clean. To the right of the camel enclosure, there was a smaller enclosure which oddly enough held about 4 chiwawa dogs. I have to say that I found this sort of animal being in a Zoo rather odd. The dogs looks happy and healthy and also had a fair sized enclosure although they did look rather hot and didn't appear to have a great deal of shade.

From here, you can follow the pathway which run throughout the entire park. There are various types of animals including many different varieties of birds including canaries, finches, budgies, parrots, pheasants and chickens just to name a few. I was really impressed with all of the bird enclosures as they were large and clean. Many of the birds were either nesting or already had young that had hatched which goes to show that the zoo must be doing something right.

Following on from here you will also see a number of other animals such as rabbits, and guinea pigs. There are also several large enclosures that house Ostriches and Emus. Although the animals are all fenced in, you can still get a decent view of each of them and I have to admit that I was very shocked to see exactly how big the Ostriches are, they were massive and very intimidating just because of the sheer size of them.

There is also a fairly large enclosure for Goats who were probably the friendly lot of animals inside the park. The goats were very keen to be fed with the food that we bought upon entering the park. So much so in fact that one of the goats actually managed to jump the fence of the enclosure and followed us around the park for a bit trying to get some more food. There were around 6 goats in this enclosure and 2 of them were babies.
Upon entering the park, we were given an information sheet which provided up with details about the park and the work that is carried out there. The idea is that the park acts as a conservation area and there is an active breeding program in place for the animals, especially some of the more endangered birds.
The Botanical Gardens are actually included within the grounds of the animal park and not separate as I assumed it would be. I think they have managed to merge the two aspects of the park really well and many of the rare plants and flowers are in fenced off areas either side of the path as you walk through the park. They have plants from nearly every part of the world and each of the plants have signposts by them providing you with information such as the name of the plant and where it originates from.

The park is laid out in a circle, so once you have followed the entire park, you end up back where you started, near the entrance. Just behind the entrance there are some toilets and also a small hut which sold soft drinks. There is also a table laid out here with various souvenirs to buy such as ostrich feathers and ostrich eggs (although I'm not sure you would be able to bring an Ostrich egg back into our country!!)

Summary
In summary, I would certainly recommend a trip to this attraction. Although the park is quite small, I think this is reflected in the entrance fee and all in all, I thought this attraction offered good value for money. It took us around 90 minutes to walk around the entire park, stopping to have a look at the various animals and taking the time to feed them so by no means would this attraction be a whole day event.
The pathways within the zoo are fairly shaded due to the thick vegetation so we found it quite pleasant strolling round the park and taking shelter from the burning Tunisian heat. If you like animals and have 1-2 hours to spare, then I would recommend a visit to the Parc Oasis Zoo and Botanical Park. 

...less