Animal experience - where?

[Curlybrunette]

Hi,

I'm looking for inspiration. Next October half term we are going to take our ds (he'll be 13) somewhere for a few days. We were thinking of New York but I wondered if anyone had any suggestions of a break that would involve animals. He is animal mad and would love something where he would see loads of animals or even have a hands on experience.

Because of work we can be away max of 4 nights, and as we were thinking of New York we don't mind long haul, so anywhere up to 8 ish hours away.

Thanks a lot,

Hands on experiences are problematic if the animals in question are wild, not domesticated animals. DH works in Animal Welfare and has worked with various Tour Operators and Travel Bodies on ethical animal tourism. To sum up, if it’s a wild animal then observation rather than touching and feeling is in responsible terms the way to go.

If you’ve only got four day’s and a max flight time of 8 hours then you’re a bit limited. Why not look at Scandinavia and an animal related trip or a bear sanctuary in Romania? There are sanctuaries across Europe that you could stay at and assist them in their work. An ethical sanctuary will be one though that will give DS a pretty limited hands on experience with a wild animal.

NY is just right for 4/5 days and we went 2 months ago with our 11 year old. There is a zoo (I think!) in Central Park and the Natural History museum. Our DD absolutely loved it. We rented an apartment in an old brownstone area of Brooklyn which was great and with a DC it was nice to have a mix of frenetic Manhattan and our evenings relaxing in a laid back family neighbourhood.

Hi thanks for your reply.

Yes I did see something about wolf watching (from a distance of course!) in Sweden but October was the wrong time.

I actually do really fancy New York, dh and I have been but not with DS. There is a zoo in Central Park and also Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Zoo is meant to be fantastic.

Thanks

How about this? www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/lookout-lodge-sleepover-at-the-zoo

Oh wow that looks ace, he would love that. Thanks Ricekrispie22

Port Lympne in Kent sleep next to lions & other animals

I've been on a couple of seal trips in UK

Gibraltar has monkeys. We've done Scandinavia for wildlife and seen quite a bit but that's more Easter to summer or winter. Lapland is lovely in winter.

UK wise there's seals at Blakeney. Not sure how great weather will be in October and it's an open boat but the seals are nice.

Iceland for horse riding

Whale watching, seabirds

Outdoor swimming

A couple of ideas here - www.thegreatprojects.com/volunteer-in-europe

PS - not checked they’d accept a 13 year old

Thanks a lot I'll check them out.
I was trying to google UK things but don't think I was using the correct search terms as I couldn't get any proper results.

I’m not sure you’ll find a great deal in the UK other than things like seal watching boat trips really. Port Lympne is near us and as PP suggested, has Safari lodges you can stay at. I think they also have ‘zoo keeping’ experiences as well - I did look at them for my youngest DD but they weren’t cheap! How about a farm stay? Not exactly exotic but will allow DS to get pretty hands on?! www.farmstay.co.uk/Accommodation/HolidayIdeas/Feedtheanimals

The Zoo in the Bronx is amazing, well worth the trip away from Manhatten but it is nearly a full day. It depends how much you want to do and see in NY in total.

DD got the ZLS zoo keeper experience last year, she was 11. Very well done and absolute hands on with cleaning paddocks and brushing pigs. It was around 3-4 hours.

The Port Lymph is only once a month between May - September. They have to be 13 though. There is a more junior version as well.

I found farmstays more for a lot younger children, we did several when DD was 5-8 and she lost interest after that.

Seals in Norfolk are great to be seen in May, not sure about other times.

We stayed at Port Lympne in Kent for my 40th birthday, it was amazing. We didn't spend the THOUSAND POUNDS A NIGHT!!! to sleep next the lions but we stayed in a treehouse (not an actual treehouse, just up some steps near trees). The apartment was lovely, we got a glass of fizz and marshmallows for the kids to toast on arrival, and had our own golf buggy to drive round the zoo after closing. We did a AAA safari which was excellent and got to feed the giraffes and black rhino. Nearby Howletts is also included in the price so we went there the next day and fed the honey badgers. I would highly recommend it for an animal lover.

We took DS and DD (12 and 13) to this alpaca B&B in Sweden and they loved it, has about 50 alpacas in it and a few llamas and chickens, you get to feed alpacas and llamas.

www.booking.com/hotel/se/norrangens-alpacka.html

It's about 2 hours drive from Stockholm so would need hire a car but could also be combined with a couple of days in Stockholm. Not a massive amount in the area around B&B, there's a silvermine but onsite is lovely and owner and staff are great.

You can also walk the alpacas there.

Whale watching in Nova Scotia?