Tropical Wings : A Grand Day Out

We visited tropical wings over half term but really it's been a year in the making! Ever since a friend told me about Tropical Wings I have wanted to take Tom! Based in Essex it was a little further to travel than we would usually go but I can say it was totally worth it! I will state that I am a zoo/farm lover so they had a head start in my affections! 

The zoo offers a soft play area, a cafe, shop, farm area, meerkats, and a tropical butterfly area ... I wonder where the name comes from! 

You start by looking at a selection of unusual birds with a goat in the middle! It was a nice start and I really enjoyed the birds but Tom was far more interested in the goat! 

You then get to go on and look at lots of different animals including an awesome monkey enclosure. In Tom's world this did not compare to the ride on motorised tractors, at £1 a turn this was a massive highlight for Tom, I will be honest I had a turn too and it was quite fun! 

Next up were the wallabies and Patagonian mara enclosure. This was absolutely brilliant! The fence is very low so you are really in with them, it was great for Tom to see the animals so up close and personal.

After this we saw otters. I absolutely loved the otters and it was possibly my favourite part! They were cuddling and kissing and making their funny little noises! So adorable and Tom spent quite a long time looking at and copying them. 

We then visited the farm area, Tom liked the pigs and was making Peppa noises, there was also another 'open farm area' with goats but I found it a bit hard to stop Tom climbing in! The part I really like with this was there were chickens roaming around and Tom liked to chase them! It was really funny! And he got quite close to catching dinner! 

We then timed it so we got to see the meerkat feeding. I would totally recommend this as we got to be really up close and see some of the little baby ones too! It was a well put together show, during which everyone had a good look. 

We did visit the cafe for lunch, I would recommend going early as it got very busy by the time we left. The food was nice, fairly simple, sandwiches, jacket potatos, etc. And the prices were also pretty average for a captive audience. There are also plenty of spaces around for picnics both inside and out which is always a welcome sight! 

Last but certainly not least, the butterfly enclosure! This is immense, it's kept at a very warm temperature so be prepared to carry your coat! There are butterflies flying everywhere and sometimes even landing on you! All different sizes, colours and types, it is so beautiful, I don't know if you could go and not be awed by the beauty of them! 

There was a stunning blue one that I just couldn't get a picture of but when you see you will know! It's massive! 

So did we enjoy our day? Heck yeah!

Will we go back? I can't wait! 

If you are looking for a nice day for the whole family then this is the place to go! 

http://www.tropicalwings.co.uk

This is not a sponsored post.

A Grand Day Out : Howletts Animal Park

Apologies in the delay in me posting, the lurgy decended upon our house this weekend so I have not been up for doing much of anything! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming  ...

We decided to go to Howletts Animal Park in Canterbury for Nana's birthday and I thought I'd share the experience in case you fancied it. 

I bought the tickets online prior to going as you get a 10% discount, so adult tickets were £18.85 each and the babies were fee (woohoo). Another benefit of buying the ticket online prior to visiting is that you don't need to queue! There is a separate line for online bookings, you just show your code and off you go! 

There is a big variety of animals in the sanctuary, I would say predominantly monkeys/gorillas but also elephants, bison, tigers, leopards and some more obscure animals too! Tom enjoyed looking at the animals but found it hard to make out some of the smaller and more camouflaged ones so we didn't dwell on them for too long. The best moment for me was Tom saying 'hello' for the first time, and it was to a gorilla! 

All of Howletts is pushchair/wheelchair friendly, I didn't have any problems with mine and it's a big mother! There were also baby change facilities available, they weren't the most luxurious but a means to an end, and they were clean so I can't complain! 

We had lunch on site, visiting a canteen type cafe in which some of us had burger type food and others had jacket potato/pasta type dishes. They were child friendly, providing a decent baby seat. I would consider it unremarkable but not unpleasant. It wasn't an issue as we weren't there for the food! We did stop for an ice cream which was really nice, they had speciality flavours such as haribo or marshmallow, I had the marshmallow and it was lush! And the ice cream was reasonable value for money and a generous portion! 

Overall, we had a really good day out. Tom definitely  enjoyed himself, and it was great that you could get really quite close to some of the animals. It would be great to have more big animals but that would be for Tom's perspective. From mine, I really enjoyed the little monkeys, they were so sweet! A few of the animals had babies and it was adorable to see mamas and babies in nature.

I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area, just pre book your tickets!