I remember as though it were yesterday, my childhood visits to Chester Zoo. There was the big sign saying ‘Great Apes’ that became a long-standing family joke because my excited younger sister shouted out: ‘Ooh look, the great “happies”’; the picnic hamper we lugged around; the ice-cream treats; the thrill of spotting animals we’d only seen before in a picture book or on the screen of our black-and-white television.
Today’s Chester Zoo is a very different beast. What began as George Mottershead’s 1930s dream of running a charitable educational, conservation and scientific institution is now one of the UK’s biggest and most popular visitor attractions and a globally renowned centre of excellence for conservation and scientific research. And for those of us living on its doorstep, it’s a chance not only to support an internationally respected institution that has put the county on the world-wide map but also a place for a top day out, or even better, an overnight stay that will linger in the memory, whatever your age.
Tripadvisor has just announced Upton-by-Chester CH2 1EU as top of the list of the UK’s leading zoos and aquariums, based on outstanding visitor reviews. My most recent visit with a granddaughter around the same age (seven) as I was on our 1960s family outing to see the ‘great happies’ was worthy of an outstanding visitor review – 24 hours of great happiness that began from school pick-up time on Friday and lasted to our journey home tea time on Saturday.
Jo-Jo and Ivy’s awfully big adventure started with valet parking, a welcome drink and check-in at the Reserve. Chester Zoo’s answer to a premium safari getaway, which opened last year, is a chance to stay overnight in one of 51 luxury African-themed lodges, in support of conservation work at home and across the world.
Our Giraffe View Lodge came complete with a roll-top bath on the balcony, a super-king bed and all the accoutrements you’d expect from high-end hospitality, plus a cuddly toy giraffe to keep us company until the real thing appeared, as if by magic, outside our window the next morning.
But before that there were Friday night escapades to be had on the exclusive-for-guests after-hours tour of Heart of Africa – home to 57 African species in grassland habitats found across central Africa.
Then we dined in the Amboseli Restaurant, with its views across the wild nature lake, where a mother swan was nursing her eggs and being visited with titbits served up by her Mr Swan.
The food here is much more than titbits, with a dinner menu including ribeye steak with mushroom ragout and red wine reduction, borlotti bean cassoulet and aubergine schnitzel among the mains choices. We shared the salt and pepper squid starter and Ivy and her new best friend toy giraffe shared a very good burger from the children’s menu. Because we needed some extra food for thought before listening to the rangers’ campfire stories and taking part in the animal-theme quiz in the Tsavo Lounge on the top floor of the Reserve’s main building, we also shared a chocolate and salted caramel ice-cream sundae with honeycomb.
Opening the curtains the next morning and seeing the look on Ivy’s face when she was woken from her slumbers to watch the giraffes wander out into the paddock outside our lodge was priceless – a memory I hope will always stay with her.
Then it was time for a morning soak in the balcony bath filled with bubbles from the lovely toiletries in the lodge before a hearty breakfast and a day of animal-watching, learning, climbing and a very good pub lunch in the Oakfield at the centre of the zoo.
We visited the virtual reality attraction, where at £13 for two standard tickets you can choose from a variety of experiences, including swimming with sharks, walking with gorillas or following the great migration.
There are new things to see at every turn at Chester Zoo and plenty of places to sit and dream of a world where the greatest threat to wildlife across the globe (the zoo has 30,000 animals and 500 species on site) isn’t homo sapiens. Ivy climbed and jumped and ate more ice cream and as closing time approached, we agreed we needed to return to see all the animals and do all the things we hadn’t managed to fit in.
Back at the Reserve, we collected our bags and said goodbye to the charming, knowledgeable staff – Chester Zoo has an army of them, from the guides who share their expertise on animal life and plant life to the reception, shop and hospitality teams.
On our journey home, before my travel companion fell asleep, we each named our 10 favourite parts of the trip: awakening to the giraffes, the VR shows and the ice-cream sundae made both lists; her favourite creature was the yellow mongoose, I liked the pretty flamingoes; we were both proud of the number of answers we got in the Friday night quiz against fellow guests. By the time we got to number 10 Ivy was sleeping as soundly as the sloth we had learned only came down to its ‘toilet’ area once a week because he was too lazy to do otherwise.
So Ivy and I will return to Chester Zoo soon and I’d encourage anyone else looking for a memorable day out that combines fun with education to do the same. If you make it an overnight stay, that’s even more of a treat.
Each entry ticket and each multiple-benefit zoo membership helps make a difference to life on our planet. A night at the Reserve funds groundbreaking conservation, from scientific breakthroughs that are helping save the black rhino to the use of AI to protect giraffes and pangolins in Uganda.
Ivy had all the fun without fully understanding just how impressive this tourist attraction on her doorstep is, so let the last word here come from Jamie Christon, CEO of the ever-evolving Cheshire force of nature with a mission to protect wildlife: ‘Every visit to Chester Zoo directly supports our vital conservation work, both here at home and around the world, and the past year alone is a reminder of just how much that work matters. We’ve developed the world’s first vaccine for a deadly virus that threatens Asian elephants globally, we’ve officially pulled a tiny species of snail back from the brink of extinction and right here on our doorstep we’ve been planting thousands of trees to create important new woodland habitat. None of that happens without the people who come through our gates – and we’re enormously grateful to every one of them.’.
The lodges
The lodges represent the colours, textures and natural beauty of the African savannah and come with a super-king Hypnos bed, double sofa-bed, large bathroom with rainfall shower, smart TV, furnished balcony and coffee machine.
Lakeside Lodges and Family Lodges (sleeping up to six) overlook the private lake and offer the option of interconnecting Lakeside Lodges sleeping up to nine guests.
Look-out Lodges have views of the paddock. The Giraffe Lodge paddock side has an exterior roll-top bath. The Giraffe VIP Lodge has a second bedroom (sleeping up to four adults and two children), large balcony and bath overlooking the giraffe paddock, with a private garden and giraffe viewing platform.
Price
A one-night After Hours Explorer stay at the Reserve at Chester Zoo costs from £466 based on two adults sharing a Lakeside Lodge (or £660 for a family of four sharing), including breakfast, a welcome drink, £25 per person dining allowance, valet parking, a two-day Chester Zoo pass (with early access to the Heart of Africa zone), an after-hours Heart of Africa and Hidden Savannah tour and evening Ranger activities. Upgrade to a Giraffe View Lodge with prices starting at £544 based on two adults sharing, or £738 for a family of four sharing.
chesterzoo.org/accommodation
