Zipping Around the Zoo

We often visit Chester Zoo at the weekends as we're lucky to live quite close.

As of the time of writing, they have a wonderful new immersive attraction called Native. This video artwork takes place inside a giant room with video projections on all walls and the floor, bringing you down to the size of the animals that live across the British Isles. Oli loved chasing squirrels across the walls, jumping over the waves on the floor, and watching bugs and bunnies run around the room. There is a queuing system in place for this, but we were lucky and got there quite early so we went straight in.

As members of the zoo, we sometimes just pop in for a few hours, and there's no pressure to see or do everything in one day. It also means we don’t get frustrated on days when the littles aren't bothered by the animals and just want to play on the many playgrounds that dot the grounds!

It's always a bit hit-and-miss as to which animals are going to be out and about on any given visit - I can count on one hand the amount of times we've seen the tiger, but the penguins and flamingoes are always out and active, and there are plenty of indoor animals to check out when the weather inevitably turns. Though my favourite spot is the lemurs of Madagascar, where you can walk through the free-roaming primates as they jump around the trees.

Our top tip for surviving Zoo Days is to make a beeline to House of Sumatra in The Islands for the best coffee in the place.