My kids love the zoo and one of our favourites is Marwell Wildlife in Hampshire, just a 45 minutes from home.
We haven’t visited for about 18 months so I promised the kids we would visit to see what had changed since we were there last……… it turns out an awful lots has changed, and for the better.
The entrance is still the same with the penguins cheerily greeting you as you arrive alongside a small sea themed park to play in.
Next up was the Cheetah walk and thanks to it being a lovely warm, sunny day the Cheetah was out enjoying the Autumn sunshine.
It was just after the Cheetah enclosure where we saw our first massive change – Wild Explorers, where you get to experience the African wilderness first hand at Marwell’s newest and biggest exhibit to date.
Marwell is actively involved in conserving the three iconic species – white rhinos, scimitar-horned oryx and Grevy’s zebra – all of whom are housed in this new exhibit, with its setting and design revealing how they study and observe these species in the wild.
The exhibit has unrestricted views and an amazing view of the animals, both near and far. We could have stood here for hours watching the animals but there is also the discovery zone where you can learn more about them, complete with a safari vehicle resting by the water hole to awaken your inner explorer and a Zoolympics experience with a speed camera to see if you can run as fast as the animals.
What we love about Marwell is just how big it is. It never feels busy, even at the height of the tourism season and the paths are wide enough to run, scoot and stroll down at your leisure, with little pit stops for the kids to play, climb and use their imaginations.
We found a couple of new play trails, saw the Amur Tiger and her adorable cubs and were lucky that most of the other animals were all out enjoying the sun too.
We also got to explore the new Fur, Feathers and Scales enclosure which was interesting apart from the fact that most of the birds were hiding from us or flying too fast to get a decent photo.
The kids found the huge hill by Marwell House and spent ages running up it to roll back down again.
The rest of Marwell was the same as I remember and my favourite animals, the Snow Leopards, were lazing around in their enclosure making it really tricky to get a picture, but I found a sneaky view around the back.
You could see the new Wild Explorer’s enclosure from both sides of the park which really showed how big it is as it dominates the centre in front of Marwell House.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Marwell and promise to visit more often as it really is the perfect family friendly day out.
I love seeing animals at the zoo and it is even better when they are in their own environment. It sounds like the perfect day out x
Looks like a fab zoo we’ve not taken our son to our local zoo yet something we plan to do next year some time we love going around looking at animals
eeekkkkkkkk love the photographs, looks like everyone had fun. We love going to see the animals at our local country park. We are also lucky to have a Safari park 30 minutes away by car. When the better weather comes in we will be back visiting.
I love a good wildlife park where the animals are well looked after.
Great shark photo opportunity too!
Sounds like an awesome day your pictures are fab 🙂 I haven’t took my little boy to the zoo yet but he loves animals although our zoo is no were near as good as this one sounds xxx
what a lovely zoo, there are lots of different animals! I love how you have edited the pictures, they look amazing to remember those sweet moments in the future x
Marwell is on our list of places we may visit coming home from Sussex next Sunday after the Lewes bonfire party. I’ve just been showing Guy your video and now he is really keen! I love how the penguins followed the mobile phone around, I never knew they did that! the play area looks great too and who could resist rolling down those grassy banks. Lovely to see it is still as good as I remember.
Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
I have read about Marwell before and it looks lovely. So many gorgeous photos, it looks like a really great day out .
I’ve never heard of Marwell but it sounds fab! Gorgeous photos and it’s lovely that the animals are in their own environments. We went to a zoo this week while on holiday and the tigers were just in a cage looking really sad and fed up, it made me feel really guilty some how!
What beautiful pictures and lovely to see the animals on film too and hear the kids’ giggles!
This does look like a brilliant zoo. Your photos are great too. I think it’s extremely important for wild animals to have large enclosures, and it seems like they do at Marwell.
That looks like a great zoo – I’d much rather visit a zoo where the animals are in similar environments to what they would be in the wild x x
So many animals! It looks like you had an amazing day there!
Looks like an awesome day out :O) I’ve not been to a zoo for ages! x
Ha I always spat my tea out at the shark photo, that is absolutely brilliant x
I have not been to a zoo in the UK in over 10 years but outside the UK I was able to see some animals in Pretoria zoo in South Africa. This definitely brought back some memories
I have never been to Marwell. It looks like you all had a fab time and that it is a great place to visit.
I’ve not been to Marwell Zoo, it looks like a fabulous place to visit. I do love the shark photo.
I love the zoo. Can’t wait to take my kids to one.
I love love love zoos. Any zoos and in any season… actually when they’re most empty (so autumn or end of winter are the best times to go!) The animals are so interesting and there’s always something to do for everyone and it’s clear your family loved it!
It looks fantastic there i love the pictures of all the animals. My little ones love to go to the zoo so we might need to add this to our must visit list.
I haven’t taken the twins to the Zoo yet we have been to se the fish at sealife but not the Zoo they love animals as well. They are 3 in January so I think next year will be a perfect age and summer day trip out.
What amazing photos, I love the shark one! hehe. We went to Chester Zoo last year and it was fab – my daughter had a great time
You can’t beat a good day out at the zoo and you all look like you had a brilliant time!
This seems a lovely place and one I have never heard of – though I bet it isn’t too far from us! I love the sound of the Wild Explorers. I don’t think I have ever seen a rhino in real life! #CountryKids
That looks brilliant, although I fear my kids would have spent all day posing in the sharks mouth 😉
I love a day out at the zoo, and we have friends in Hampshire so this looks like a great place for us to go next time we are down. I want to get a photo of my boys in that sharks mouth!! #countrykids