A
typical day out at Amazon World Zoo Park.
In the morning:
10am
"Well it's only taken us a short time to reach Amazon World from where
we are staying and that was on the other side of the Island, the kids
didn't even have chance to ask if we were there yet! The first glimpse
of the ancient 'Mayan temple' front of Amazon World makes us all excited
and eager to explore!"
"Car parked, kids ferried to the toilets and Family ticket bought from
a friendly lady at the entrance, we're now ready to enter the Jungle!"
This is amazing! There's a waterfall cascading into a pond and colourful
birds flying everywhere! We've only moved a short distance in 15 minutes
there's just so much to see! Chloe has just spotted some Crocodiles from
the bridge and is intent on reading out all the information on the sign
nearby. If she does this for all the animals we may be here until next
week!
We're
exploring deeper into the jungle and we've come face to face with beautiful
Macaws and some more unusual animals I've never seen before, well only
on the TV. Chloe has just dragged Sophie through a tunnel that brings
them both up into a glass box in the middle of an Anteater's enclosure,
there's connecting tunnels too and they both play hide and seek with me
and Trevor, I think secretly he wants to have a go in them too!
Well Trevor's in there with them now! I'm going to sit in the cinema and
watch a film on the rainforest while they wear themselves out.
They've
finally joined me and can't wait to get on with exploring, so we go under
the Amazon River and come face to face with some scary fish. Chloe wants
to know if we can have a Piranha to keep her Goldfish company but she's
now happy to settle for a plastic one!
After
emerging from under the river we come out into the jungle again, Flamingos
balance on one leg while more exotic birds fly above us twittering.
I
just saw a member of staff and asked about the varieties, she named a
few and said if we were very quiet and went over the little bridge that
we might see a 'Scarlet Chested Sunbird'. We stood there for about 5 minutes
quietly (even Sophie!) and sure enough one came hovering down to a tube
of nectar!
The
next part we go through really brings home what is happening in the rainforests.
It's a display about how it's been destroyed and there's loads of information
on how quickly it's all happening. Chloe has just grabbed my hand and
is leading me into another area; she's got a grin on her face so I'm a
bit suspicious! Yes might have known, it's the Insect house; she knows
how I love spiders! These big hairy ones aren't half as bad as the ones
in the bathroom though!
Now
the path takes us out of the jungle and into another informative area,
this time about farming in the rainforest. As we're looking around Trevor
notices two gargoyles either side of an opening, there's a sign saying
'The Tomb' so he goes off ahead for a look. Next minute he's back out
looking like a big kid, so we all go through together. Inside you can
really believe you're in a burial chamber, skulls, mummies and coffins
all add to the feel. There's huge bats hanging from the roof too but I'm
glad they're behind glass.
There are other animals in here too; I've never seen such a big snake!
Chloe informs us it's an Anaconda and spends most of its time in water.
I must admit that snakes aren't my favourite animals but as we came in
to the tomb I did notice that there was a bypass for people with a phobia!
We
turn another corner and come out into bright daylight of a desert. I think
this is my favourite bit so far; the Fennec Foxes are so cute and the
Meerkats! Sophie points at a rock but then it moves, its an Armadillo,
it was rolled into a tight ball but now it looks like clockwork as it
moves around!
As we go out of the desert there's more information on rainforests and
how we can grow and harvest plants within them instead of destroying them.
This area is aptly called 'Re-birth'. I've just checked my watch and it's
nearly 12.30 and time for one of the displays, the girls need the toilet
anyway so we make our way out to the entrance. We've still got loads left
to see but Trevor likes falconry displays so is keen to see this one.
It's
quite crowded around the display area but we find a nice spot were we
can see everything and the commentary is done with a microphone so we
don't miss a thing. The falconers are bringing out the birds and we all
try to guess what they'll fly first, I win as I said an Owl (they're my
favourite). This one seems to have a mind of his own though, he's done
a bit of flying but now he's running across the floor instead! Trevor's
favourite is the Harris Hawk; he keeps trying to talk me into letting
him have one! Sure enough that's what they fly next but it's quite different
to the other displays we've seen, they even ask for a few small volunteers
to help. Chloe is amazed when she's picked and even more amazed when she
comes back, I'm sure she's not going to stop smiling for weeks!
Time for lunch before we go back into Amazon World to finish exploring
and I want to pop into 'The Trading Post' gift shop too!
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Visitor Information
Opening Times, How to find us, Travel, Schools
Information
Animals and Plants
Mammals, Cats and Carnivores, Birds, Insects and Reptiles, Fish and Amphibians
and plants.
Amazon World Zoo Park Watery Lane, Nr Arreton, Isle of Wight PO36 0LX
Tel: 01983 867122 Fax: 01983 868560 Email: info@amazonworld.co.uk