We did the manatee experience end of December 2016. I would contact them and ask, i'm pretty sure thats what we did as we thought it only ran til October.
I'll give them a message You don't happen to remember how much the photos were do you? I'm expecting them to be extortionate!
It was 50 euros for something like 6 photos. However we ended up with all our photos as we couldn't decide which ones we wanted (mainly because they weren't great - blurry mainly)
Did you have any trouble booking regarding needing an address in Spain? I've sent them a message to try and book directly but they haven't yet replied
Yes I had that problem, I ended up using the address of the hotel I was staying at. However, they did come back after and said they could've booked us in manually.
Manateacup, you would like many zoos in Thailand, Singapore and China. They have lots of animal contact. Many do not involve abuse of animals, contrary to the cliche in the West. It shows how much over the top are current laws in the West.
Prague Zoo: Keeper for a day 428€; Meeting seals 110 €; Feeding camels 5€; Feeding giraffes 5€; more information here. Zoo Zlín: Keeper for a day 250€ Zoo Brno: Keeper for a day - bears 90€; Keeper for a day - ungulates 170€ Zoo Ústí: Keeper for a day 250€; Feeding seals, meerkats or elephants 90€ Zoo Olomouc: Keeper for half a day 90€ Zoo Jihlava: Feeding animals (babirusa, seal, coati, marmosets or llamas) 110€; Meeting giraffes 180€; Meeting lemurs 180€; Keeper for a day 285€ Zoo Hodonín: Keeper for a day 70€ Zoo Dvůr Králové: Keeper for a day 210€; Backstage tour 285€ per stop Zoo Liberec: Keeper of tropical animals 110€ (half day)/180€ (full day); Keeper of apes 110€/180€; Keeper of big cats and sea lions 145€/215€; Keeper of ungulates 145€/215€; Keeper of birds of prey 70€/145€; more information here (althoug it seems the the link is outdated information wise and is full of spelling mistakes, which look really unprofessional) Only Prague and Liberec seem to provide this experiences in English language though
At the time, a very short response saying that we should book through the website and use the drop down box to change the country (which you can't). Plans then changed and we ended up not going. We have however now booked it for this week coming! It was tough to book online and took several attempts, we ended up using an address of some relatives that have moved to Spain. We then didn't get any sort of confirmation or receipt and have spent weeks trying to get in contact to inquire about that. I believe they got back to us yesterday morning with a confirmation email but I don't know what it said. I will update when we've been!
I can highly recommend the £10 lemur experience at Linton - I have done it twice now and it is amazing. Last year I got my mum a feed the tigers experience at Hamerton which was also pretty impressive, and as well as the photos they took and sent to her, I was able to accompany mum behind the scenes and take lots of photos and video as well. I did a sort of tour thing at Hoo Farm where I got clambered all over by their two binturong and a raccoon (not all at the same time), stroked the servals and fed the otters, lemurs and raccoon dogs. I know that place is not everyone's cup of tea, but it was definitely a fun experience, and only cost us £45 for two people. This year mum and I are going to feed the big cats at Dudley, which was just £100 for two people, and the Walk on the Wild Side at Exmoor, also £100 for two people. My realistic dreams are to do the red panda experience at Bristol (which is already booked up for this year) and the aardvark experience at Chester. My "if I win the lottery" dreams are the Polar bear experience at YWP (after seeing migdog's incredible video of it) and the cheetah one at Hamerton.
Definitely my cup of tea! I’ve done the sea lion meet and greet at Blackpool Zoo twice, I’ve done the rhino feed at Edinburgh Zoo and I’ve done the Komodo dragon experience at Colchester Zoo. I’ve also done the bear care tour at Phnom Tamao in Cambodia twice.
Have fun, you will enjoy it I'm sure. I hope you get better photos than we did though! The lemur feed at Linton is probably the best value for money experience in the UK, especially as it's not your run-of-the-mill ringtails. If you want an awesome Aardvark experience, try Africa Alive! It's £22.50 per person (max 2 people), bookable on the day. We've done it twice in the past, and it's great fun. There are also red panda experiences at other zoos that might not be booked up - I think Shepreth have started offering them now. My top ten experiences are probably as follows (in no order): 1. Big Cat Feed at Longleat - Being chased by lions in a metal cage was a great thrill! 2. Polar Bear experience at YWP - Half the price when we did it, but half the polar bears! Feeling a bears breath on your was an amazing experience. 3. Manatee/Fur seal experience at Faunia - Manatees are such amazing animals, and it wasn;t that expensive. 4. Swim with a Sealion at Combe Martin WDP - Getting up close with Morgan was fantastic, such a friendly animal. 5. Walk on the Wildside at Exmoor - An array of animals to get up close to, great value for money. 6.Giant Anteater Experience at Longleat - Feeding avocado and Quark to an anteater was exceptionally messy but fun. 7. King Penguin experience at Birdland - Feeding and being up close to the King Penguins was amazing. 8. Brown Bear experience at Wildwood - Feeding peanuts to Scruffy and Fluffy through the bars was great. 9. Raccoon and Coati experience at Wingham - So much fun, getting harassed by the Coatis was a highlight! 10. Hippo experience at Berlin Zoo - It only makes the top 10 because the keep let Lynsey go in with the young hippos and give them a scratch!
Colchester did a Sun Bear experience in 2015 which we took part in, but don't seem to offer it anymore.
They don’t openly advertise, promote or offer it to the average walk up customer, but they do still do it - but only off the record. All of these experiences would be of great interest to me - but #4 has been on my bucket list for quite some time!
I will bear that in mind about Africa Alive! as I would like a trip over that way to do the collections over there sometime. The downside of the Shepreth red panda experience (which would have been perfect as I have no doubts at all I will be back over that way in the not too distant future for Linton and Hamerton) is that you have to be able to use the ladder to get in and out of the enclosure, and I am not sure I can do that They do them at Longleat as well, but I have no plans to go back there. The plus of Bristol is that it's close enough to do as a day trip from home, I will just have to plan it for next year and be patient (not one of my strengths, it will be good practice). In the meantime, I have been gifted with a VIP experience at All Things Wild, I just need to remember to call them and book it (and hope that I get some say in which animals I get to encounter).
What's the reason for this? Swimming with the sealion was an amazing experience, I would say easily in my top 3, and wasn't too expensive
They said something about there being a low level of demand for it and people finding it a bit disappointing that they couldn’t touch the bears, so they considered that other things would be seen as better value for money. It’s definitely something I would love to do - sea lions are my favourite animals after bears.
