Going exploring

On Sunday I went to the Welsh Mountain Zoo with my family. I run a Brownie unit with my Mother and we decided that as we were doing the Friends to Animals badge with the girls we would take them to the zoo. As the original trip was cancelled because of snow it's been postponed which gave us the time to have a reconnaissance mission as now my Mother is concerned about what would happen if it rained.

It's been years since I've visited so it was a really fun day out. It's not a huge zoo by any means and it is lacking in some of the larger animals like elephants or giraffes which are my Brother's favourite animals, but you can get right up close to the animals which you don't get at Chester Zoo. The camel was right by the path and the penguins were right up to the gate. I couldn't put my camera right up to the wire for fear the penguin would peck me with its beak. 

During the afternoon we watched the bird and sea lion show. Now I've seen the shows I know the best place to get the Brownies to stand to get the best views. It was really interesting the detail they went into about the birds they showed us and the sea lions were of various ages so some weren't perfect in terms of the tricks they were taught and it was lovely getting an insight into how they train the animals in their care. It was a much more genuine show. 

 

I was really impressed with the zoo. We ate lunch at their 'Safari Cafe' and even though it had the usual price tags of tourist food places the portion sizes more than made up for it. I only managed half of my pasta and my family eagerly helped me finish off my chips! 

We were concerned about taking 26 Brownies for an entire day as we weren't sure if there was enough to keep them entertained but the size of the play area is absolutely fantastic! There's a smaller area for younger children and then a massive area with a number of slides, climbing frames and a zip wire. I think our girls would be perfectly happy spending the whole day there.

I would definitely recommend taking a day trip if you have a family. It's cheaper than Chester Zoo and even without the wider range of animals you certainly get a better view of them.