Thursday 6 December 2012

Family Day Out - Edinburgh Zoo

Everyone loves a family day out, and we are no exception! I was thrilled to be offered tickets to Edinburgh Zoo from MoneySupermarket.com as part of their Family Days Out & Days out discounts. I haven't been to Edinburgh Zoo since I was 5, so I was really excited :)

Those who have been will now that it is on a hill. This didn't bother the kids, but my I got a braw workout! There were animals to thrill everyone, and they are just building a new enclosure for the penguins that looks awesome! I will be going back when it is finished to see the penguins zooming down the mega-slide. The highlight for me were the Pandas! So cute, and luckily willing to pose & walk about for us. The kids loved the monkeys the best, so of them were very cheeky! (The monkeys, not the children ha ha).

There are plenty of play areas dotted about, to keep the kids happy while the grown ups have a wee sit down with a latte from the many coffee shops. Even on a cold day, there was plenty to see & do. We stayed from opening right up til closing time, and we still missed a couple of exhibits.

Make use of the safari bus ride - they will drive you right to the to of the hill, while giving a guided & informative tour on your way up. It is much easier to walk down than it is to go up! Our guide was very friendly & very knowledgeable about the zoo & its animals - telling us which had just had babies and where to spot them.



All the kids were enthralled by the baby monkey - he was so small & cute that they all wanted to take him home!




The guides at the Panda enclosure knew their stuff - they fascinated the children by telling them that Pandas poop 40-50 times a day! There are 2 pandas there, a girl called Tian Tian (which means sweet sweet, the repetitive is to emphasise how sweet she is) and the male is called Yang Guang (which means sunshine). They sleep a lot of the time, but we were so lucky to see both awake! They are kept in separate enclosures as they are solitary animals. Tian Tian seemed to smile right at us! She was quite sleepy, but posed for all the cameras - such a diva. Yang Guang was asleep in his private room though, but came bounding out when he smelt the honey (their favourite treat) that his keeper put out for him. He wandered around his pen for awhile, so it was great to see how they move about & interact with their surroundings.



We all enjoyed watching the zebras galloping around in their field. My friends wee one kept yelling "wow zebras!" she was so excited by them. This one was peering at us through the trees, very sweet.


We all loved watching the penguins! They were diving in & out of the water, waddling about and playing with each other. It will be great to see them in their new enclosure, it looks so much fun!



In the Bandango Trail, the kids got to touch & handle some chimp related stuff, which was great. They asked the lady lots of clever questions, she was really fab with them. They came away with some great little nuggets of information about chimpanzees. Touching the fake poo was met with much merriment!



I can't wait to go back, and spend another day visiting all the animals. Here are a few more of the animals we saw ....

 This monkey didn't think much of us!!







If you fancy a day out at Edinburgh Zoo, or a family day out anywhere, try MoneySupermarket Days Out Discounts  .





No comments:

Post a Comment