|
Visitor Reviews Anonymous review 25 June 2009 Woburn Safari Park is split into two sections, firstly you have the 'drive-through' animals, then you can park up and move onto the 'foot safari'. You can go straight through to the foot safari first and come back on the re-entry road to the drive through and you can go around both as many times as you like. There is plenty of free parking, and some grass areas for picnics and enjoying the sun however there is no extensive gardens or planting like many zoos have, nor are there any 'photo points', sculptures or anything like that. Both sections are easy enough to find your way around, there are not many signposts but these are not needed really.
The highlights for us were: Drive through Wolf and Black Bear enclosure - I think this must be the only one of its kind in the UK, and it is brilliant to be able to see Wolves and Bears together as they would naturally be in the wild. One tip - Remember to look up in the trees to spot all of the bears! Both species also hide in self dug dens in the ground which is great for them, but might mean you need another trip around to spot them all. Drive through Monkey Woods - 3 Species are in here which is great and they don't seem to destroy the car like many drive through Monkey enclosures. It is always fun to see baby monkeys playing on your car! Rainbow Landing - Free flying Lorikeets and Lorys in an inside aviary which is looking very dated but is pleasant enough, especially when the waterfall is on. It costs about £1 to buy 2 pots of nectar to feed the birds and be prepared, because if they are hungry they will mob you when you walk in! Lemur Walkthrough - Is not the largest or most heavily planted Lemur walkthrough we have seen however it is lovely, with a couple of huge trees and lots of Bamboo for the Lemurs to play in which they seemed to love. They have 3 species of Lemur, 2 of which are rarley seen in Zoos (most zoos seem to favour Ring-tailed Lemurs). They have Black and White Ruffed Lemurs which lift their arms up for you to tickle their armpits sometimes! Also Red Bellied Lemurs, of which one is a new born baby, and Red Fronted Lemurs which are smaller than the Ruffed. There is a talk on at various times throughout the day when most of the Lemurs come quite close for the keepers to feed. Squirrel Monkey Walkthrough - A lovely sized enclosure for these small Primates, but do not take food, drink or babies dummies in here as the monkeys might well take them off you! The keepers have their work cut out keeping the monkeys from climbing on visitors but generally the monkeys are good natured if you respect the rules on the gate. The feeding time is great to see, when all the monkeys come down from the trees to see how many mealworms they can stuff in their mouths. Strictly no touching of the monkeys is allowed. Australian Walkthrough - Very spacious enclosure for Wallabies and Rheas, very strange as Rheas are not even from Australia! At feeding time there is an opportunity to stroke the Wallabies and hand them a bit of food - great for small children. Penguins - Small and dated Penguin pool however it allows a good view of the Penguins and there is a window so you can see them swim underwater. The feeding times are worth seeing, 2 children are chosen from the audience to help the keepers feed the Penguins and the talk is very informative. Birds of Prey Display - Don't forget to go to this display as its worth seeing some beautiful birds free flying. The disappointments for us were:
Lynx - In a very small enclosure even for one cat let alone two
Reptiles - There is no reptile house and the only reptile we saw on show was a snake
Tigers - The one day we went no Tigers were on show in the drive through but instead were in a pen on the side.
Lions - Have a MASSIVE enclosure but you can see the keepers controlling exactly where the Lions are allowed to go, which isn't very far.
Misleading Signs - There is a train platform which is called "Bison Halt" so you expect to see Bisons but you don't!! Also there is a slide called "BobCat Run" so you expect to see BobCats but you don't!!
They are enough toilets available, but only just! There are no gardens for you to sit and enjoy the surroundings but there are some grassed areas. There are 2 restaurants, one is The Ark and is massive! It sells chips, burgers, drinks and such like but does some nice vegetarian meals and is spacious. Also in this building is the Play Area which is brilliant, massive slides for kids and an assault course style play area with a ball pit for the smaller children. The next restaurant is a bit more grown up and sells some lovely meals, again at prices which are not too bad but could be a bit cheaper! There are some drinks machines around but not many. The shop is very good, with lots of choice and reasonable prices. The car parking is free and even when it is very busy there are always spaces and these are right in the park. The guidebook was £5 (if i remember correct) and for this you get a Spotters Guide also which the kids love to use, this was good value for money. There are good play areas for the kids, free Swan boats for them to pedal on the lake and its a lovely atmosphere.
In our opinion this is an excellent Safari Park, the animals have a lot of room and showed no stereotypical behaviour and is easily a full day out. Although if you find you have time on your hands a visit to the Deer Park or Woburn Abbey is also recommended. It is one of the more expensive parks to get into but I think you get your monies worth. Compared to West Midlands Safari Park this is a much nicer place to visit (although is more expensive). A great place to visit if you have just a little bit more money in your pocket.
|