Banham Zoo and Africa Alive are sister Zoo’s in Norfolk and Suffolk, they both have great discounts online which you can easily access through email promotions. We recently took advantage of an offer to go to Banham Zoo and then go to Africa Alive for a discounted rate.
Africa Alive is a Zoo I had not been to before and so it was completely new experience. Africa Alive is situated in Kessingland Suffolk, and is part of the Zoological Society of East Anglia. They display the feeding times next to the map on the way in and we were lucky enough to see a few feeds. Each keeper we met had such enthusiasm for conservation and animal wellbeing, whilst being engaging and knowledgeable not just about the animal they were feeding but could easily answer questions from members of the public on other animals at the zoo.
Africa Alive is a great place for the kids to run around with plenty of open space and children’s entertainment including a large playground next to the meeting place for the train. The train is a great experience for little ones as a way to view the animals whilst learning from the train driver facts about the animals as you’re transported on a journey to Africa.
One of the parts we enjoyed the most was the Lemur encounters walkthrough, you park your buggy and then walk through the enclosure. The Ring Tailed Lemurs and sheep are free to roam as well as a few tortoises. My son was fascinated seeing the tortoises feed and watching the Lemurs sleep in the sun was definitely a highlight for us.
Africa Alive has many facilities including pushchair hire and baby changing facilities. We found it really easy to get around with the pushchair as it has accessible walkways and even platforms for viewing. Be sure to wear shoes for walking as some areas you have to go over the grass like the train meeting point. (Which is by the big kids playground).
Africa Alive is not only great for sunny warm days but it has plenty of things inside to do and see. Many of the animals have an inside house for example the Rock Hyrax is inside the Rhino House. The large indoor play area caters for children from 6 months to 12 years of age and is sure to keep them entertained on a rainier day.
Africa Alive has many benches and picnic areas around the zoo, we actually took our own picnic and had lunch overlooking the Meerkats playing and chasing each other. If you want a treat they also have ice cream and sweet treats available as well as a pizza, burgers, hotdogs and salads to name a few things on the menu.
The biggest enclosure of the zoo features not only giraffes and rhinos but also ostriches and more. We were delighted to discover they have a baby giraffe who is being fed bottles by the keepers and is being well looked after. It was really interesting seeing the giraffes being fed and learning why a giraffes tongue is a blue/black colour is to protect them from sunburn as they spend so much of the day eating.
We learnt so much about the animals and about conservation as well as charities like Tusk it truly is an experience for all ages, you’ll definitely come away having had a fun day out and having learnt about some of Africa’s greatest animals. Visit their website to check open times/tickets and prices.