We’ve been to Cotswold Wildlife Park a few times now, and Georgie even did a Junior Keeper Day there last year for her eight birthday, instead of having a party to celebrate. The staff have always been great, and I really enjoy the layout of the park and the variety of animals they keep.
Cotswold Wildlife Park is what’s known as a ‘walking safari’ or ‘zoo without bars’ – somewhere between a safari park and traditional zoo. The animals are safely contained behind non intrusive fences or walls, so visitors to the park can walk around and get close to the animals, and get a great view too. The animal enclosures are spacious and I never get that slightly icky feeling some zoos leave me with.
In addition to the wildlife, the park boasts some gorgeous gardens, and you can admire both as you walk around the grounds. The walled garden in particular is gorgeous, with stunning flowers and tropical plants surrounding the meerkat and humboldt penguin enclosures.
Early last week, we met up with Sophie and her girls for a picnic & wander around the wildlife park, and had a really nice day. Georgie and Lydia adore Isla & Poppy, and had a great day exploring and showing off their favourite animals.
Georgie in particular always loves little children, so she spent the day herding toddler Poppy back to her Mum, and making sure that Isla was ok at all times. She has always loved babies and goes into full big sister mode around any little ones.
Cotswold Wildlife Park are taking the threat of Covid19 seriously, and have implemented measures all around the park to help reduce the risk to their staff & visitors. Right from when you arrive at the park things are different; cars are being parked at a distance to one another to give the people inside safe social distancing from the other people getting out, as soon as they step out of the car door.
To control visitor numbers, pre-booked tickets are now valid for just one day rather than being usable for 30 days, and the park is only accepting pre-booked tickets. You can book these online on their website the day before your visit. Dogs are allowed in the park at no extra cost, so Gypsy joined us on our outing.
Once you have passed the ticket booth and parked your car, you can walk into the park directly from the car park, which runs down along one side of the park and isn’t fenced in separately. This is really handy if you want to pop back to your car to grab your picnic or put something away.
Around the park we spotted hand sanitiser stations and one way systems in place, as well as signs and staff actively encouraging social distancing.
There are a few things closed or not available at the moment; the train isn’t running, and keeper talks are suspended to avoid people congregating. Most indoor areas including the Madagascar walk through lemur exhibit are closed, along with the outdoor play areas. The restaurant is closed but there is plenty of space to enjoy a picnic, including several covered picnic shelters.
Despite these closures and changes to the park, we had a great day out and there was more than enough to see to keep the four girls entertained – after over four hours exploring and ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the different animals, they were all pretty tired out and ready to head home.
