I'm having my holiday in September and am making the most of my Edinburgh Zoo membership and the free admission to one of the Aspinall parks with the gorilla adoption pack I was given at Christmas. I'm regularly at Edinburgh (every Saturday at least, every 2nd Saturday as a volunteer) so I feel I have an idea to really appreciate a zoo, take it slow, be patient and be slective because you'll never see everything at it's best in a day! So far my itinery is this Sunday 13th : Start journey Monday 14th : Chester Zoo Tuesday 15th : Travel day Wednesday 16th : Bristol Zoo Thursday 17th : Longleat (not covered by zoo membership but I hear it's worth a visit) Friday 18th : Travel Day Saturday 19th : London (Either watch the Tour of Britain, visit London Zoo or the Natural History Museum) Sunday 20th : Howletts Monday 21st : Travel day Tuesday 22nd : Twycross Zoo Wednesday 23rd Head for home! Now, I have some questions. 1 At each of these zoos what shouldn't I miss? 2 I'm thinking for London, if ITV4 are doing a good coverage of the cycling on TV I'll do the Natural History Museum or the zoo instead. Again, recommendations as I really want to learn more about animals in general, my enthusiasm for good zoos and animals in general has really taken off in the past 12 months. 3 I'm told by people at Edinburgh Zoo I've chosen well. Have I, and what can I really look forward to? 4 I also want to make sure I get a souvenier from each zoo, is there anything in the gift shops that really represents the zoo?
Not to miss at Chester: Elephants, Black Rhino, Spectacled Bear, Okapi, Monkey Islands, Mini Monkeys, Twilight Zone, Jaguars, Cheetah, RORA (including babirusa), chimps I think number 4 is a great idea (provided you can find the right gift). Chester have quite a lot of "branded" items (notepads etc). But a unique gift would be the Ecko Unlimited T-shirt which is on sale near the tills at the gift shop near the entrance. It is a special Chester zoo rhino design and I doubt you'll find anything similar at the other zoos. I'll send you an image of the t-shirt later so you know what to look for. You've chosen a good range of zoos there each with contrasting styles. Probably the most contemporary zoo (Chester), the historic zoo (London), the modern small zoo (Bristol), one of the Aspinall parks, a safari park and the "collection" zoo (Twycross). That's a very good "taster" of UK zoos.
Unless you're really into stately homes, it might be worth considering whether Marwell is logistically possible as an alternative to visiting Longleat. It's got a better selection of species and I think you can only go round the reserves once at Longleat. Also Edinburgh membership may get you free entry.
Thanks so far guys. I'd love to try and fit Marwell in but I'm staying at my brothers for the Bristol and Longleat section of my trip and he lives in Corsham, very near Bath so I thought while I'm on the door step I might as well visit Longleat. I have to admit there are so many other zoos I would love to visit so I have had to be selective and I think I have a good selection there. By the way, that t-shirt looks amazing CZJimmy!
i would recomend marwell ove longlete and port lympne over twycross, (but twycross zoo if you want to see bonobos)
Okay, this trip has been significantly added to and, I think, covers a wide range of zoo types and should allow an oppotunity at least to see most different species held in captivity in the UK. It now reads 13th - South Lakes Wild Animal Park 14th - Chester Zoo 15th - Cotswold Wildlife Park 16th - Bristol Zoo 17th - Longleat 18th - Marwell 19th - London Zoo 20th - Howletts 21st - Whipsnade 22nd - Twycross 10 zoos in 10 days. I'm really looking forward to it and I think I've become seriously addicted to zoos, animals educatio, animals conservation and animals in general. Still, better than drugs!
@Simon: This has become an interesting thread, and it looks like you have a great zoo trip coming up soon. Thanks for sharing with us! It will be intriguing to read some reviews, and I'm curious as to how the English zoos will stack up compared to your beloved Edinburgh.
With the possible exception of South Lakes, that's a very good and comprehensive list of British zoos there, and I hope you enjoy them!
Looks like a very good trip. Take a camera if you possibly can and keep notes, otherwise they may end up mixed together in your memory. It's a good time for a trip like this because the zoos will be quite quiet, as the kids will be back at school but there will be very few school parties, and yet the weather is often excellent in mid-September. You should be able to see all the species of apes, lemurs and langurs in the country and the majority of the species of cats, birds and herd animals. It will be very interesting for the rest of us to learn about your impressions of each zoo and your favourite exhibit at each one. Enjoy your trip! Alan
My September Zoo Visits This September- Not as impressive as this guy's zoo visits... but Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Rainforest (6) Erie Zoo (7) Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (28)
