I’d heard about this place from a colleague at work. Word of mouth recommendation is always the best, but I still can’t understand why I’d have never heard about this place otherwise.
“I can’t understand why I’ve never heard of this place.”
I checked the website, which in truth is pretty poor (‘work in progress’ to give the benefit of doubt), popped the postcode into my Sat Nav and off we jolly well went. I downloaded a £9 discount voucher from the Yorkshire Attractions website, (always worth Googling discounts) but of course I asked my wife to present the voucher when paying because I do have voucher-phobia and can’t use them personally. So, that was £23 for 2 adults, my 6 year old went free courtesy of the voucher and we lied about my 3 year old’s age saying he was two (surely everyone else does this?) so he went free too.
We couldn’t believe the size of the place. It’s vast. After being greeted by Meerkats and farm animals, (boring) which we see all the time at the numerous Urban Farms we frequent, before we knew it we were in ‘Lion Country’. Cool! Lions (and lionesses). Not just one or two, but loads. Admittedly most were asleep, or at best scratching their nether regions, but they were lions all right. We subsequently found that this was pretty much the case with most animals we saw and they tended to liven up later in the day.
Onwards we went, this place was so vast. Taking in an adventure playground before onto the lemurs, (weird but cute) birds of prey, hyenas (largest brain for a dog), camels, zebras, cow-things, more cow-things, marmots (bizarre), wart hogs, wallabies and….tigers! Get in.
We certainly saved the best ‘til last. Just as I was about to complain (in my head, not personally – public confrontation-phobia) there it was ‘Land of the Tiger’. My word this place was impressive. A mock-‘Far East’ wooden mini village walkway taking you through a grassland and waterfall landscape inhabited by two very impressive fully-grown stripey wonders of nature.
Refreshment prices were inevitably hiked, but the facilities were good and you couldn’t wish for a better day out. We left via the kids play barn (indoor slides and stuff) and gift shop (keep moving everyone!).
“Hidden, is not a word any marketer wants to hear”
The place is huge and they’re still extending, building, putting on more shows and attractions (animals I guess). I believe it opened in 2009, so why the hell have I never heard of the place before now? All I can say is go and visit; it’s a hidden gem. But the word ‘hidden’ is not one that any marketer wants to hear. So, get your act together Yorkshire Wildlife Park because more of us need to know about you!
