Santa at Colchester Zoo

For the past couple of years we have taken the kiddies to the Winter Wonderland in Bluewater to see Santa and have a Xmas family day. This year we really fancies doing something a little different but as usual I left it until the last minute and struggled to get anything booked up. In the end we decided upon visiting the Santa in Colchester Zoo. We actually had an absolutely fantastic day out and the Santa's grotto at the zoo was pretty spectacular as you can see from the pictures.

 

The kiddies all really enjoyed the woodland walk to the grotto and then they all had a good chat to Santa. Brandon asked for a new golf set and Joshua asked for some sort of Skynet Walkie Talkies!!! Holly was too shy to go to Santa so I had to pick her up for the picture. All 3 of them got a little gift from Santa. Brandon got a cuddly toy leopard, Holly got some toddler animal puzzles and Joshua got a craft engraving book.

 

After seeing Santa we went to see the reindeer's and then did the usual zoo tour. I am not sure whether it was because of the weather, the time of the year or simply that the zoo was quite quiet, but the animals seemed to be out in their full glory today and I managed to get some absolutely stunning pictures. We got to see a snake eating a mouse (which the boys found absolutely fascinating), a lion prowling about 12" in front of our face, a tiger stretching and scratching up a tree, elephants dancing to music to name just a few.

 

Holly pretty much walked around the whole Zoo on her own and did absolutely amazing today. She didn't sleep until in the car on the way home. She thoroughly enjoyed the Zoo although she did keep calling every animal a "cat cat". What was even more funny though is that she has learnt the words o "Happy Birthday to you" and has been singing that one line over and over and over all day long,

 

Start of the woodland walk and the kiddies are excited to be meeting Santa.

The little donkey....

Santa;s sweet shop with loads of Candy Canes!

The Elves bakery.

The Elves all making ginger bread biscuits for Xmas.

Brandon with some huskies.

On through the woodland walk but still no sign of the big man in red.



"Look above you kids" - I think Santa is flying past in his sleigh.

I think Brandon is getting a bit over excited judging by the look on his face.

Santa being pulled through the night skies in his sleigh.

It was evening snowing inside the woodland walk.

Finally we find Santa's grotto and the kiddies get to talk to the big man in red.

I had to sit with Holly as she was a bit shy. But the kiddies all enjoyed  meeting Santa and got their special presents from him.

After Santa we visited the reindeer's who seemed to be having fun chucking these Xmas trees around with their antlers.

The penguins were very lively today. Maybe they were told to put on a good show by Santa.

The kids walking through a very crowded sea lion tunnel.

Josh and Brandon on a giant turtle.

Joshua climbing on a sea lion statue.

All 3 kids having fun at the Zoo.

We couldn't hand on to the rope test as long as  the Orangutan's, but that didn't stop me trying to teach the kids how to do bar muscle ups (including Holly).

A very larger orangutan eating a water melon as a snack.

Holly with a giant meerkat.

Then Joshua...........

Then Brandon.....

And then the actual meerkats.

We took a ride on the train past the wolves to the Madagascar land and got a very up close and personal view of these little beauties as you get off the train and walk around the enclosure.

Holly really enjoyed the train ride and recognises the shape of the train and was calling it a "choo choo".

In the edge of Africa we didn't spend long with the giraffes as the boys thought they really stunk (you would think they would be used to that sort of smell with me around!).

One of the highlights of the day for the boys was watching this snake for about 10-15 minutes whilst it swallowed this poor little mouse whole.

This elephant was hilarious as it could hear music coming from somewhere and stood there for about 5 minutes or so swinging its head side to side as if dancing to the music.



Brandon with his toy cheetah, on a statue of a cheetah, with a real cheetah on the platform in the background.

Theres an ouch in my pouch and its making me grouch.

Holly entertaining the crowds with some music and the lyrics to "Happy Birthday".

Even the giant turtles were out and about in the Zoo.

Holly playing on a toy tractor.

So proud to see Holly being brave and stroking the little goats and sheep. She even went as far as to feed them which is really good for a 2 year old.

The lions put on a stunning show for us and the male one was prowling back and fourth giving us some real evils.

Holly getting very close to a rather large "cat cat".

We got up very close to the lion and had some stunning views as he prowled up and down.

Joshua watching the lions.

The elephants feeding inside their house.

Even the tigers were very active today and not just laying around like they typically do in zoos.

This tiger had a good stretch and scratch up this pole and then turned around and left his scent on it. The boys found this hilarious as his pee fired out horizontally and was like a jet wash!!

Even the leopards were out and about putting on a show and running right across the windows in full view.

We had a really, really enjoyable day. I would definitely recommend the Santa grotto at the zoo. It was great to see Holly really enjoying the animals and getting so excitable. It was also nice to see Joshua and Brandon paying a lot more attention to a lot of the zoo signs and actually reading some of the facts and learning about the animals.