Originally opened in 1993 as a bird garden - under the name of Paradisio, Pairi Daiza has become the most popular zoo and botanical garden in Belgium. With its 160 acres and more than 4.ooo animals, it has something to offer to everybody. There are several exhibits, such as The Nautilus, The Oasis and Falconry Village and gardens such as the Kingdom of Ganesha and the Chinese Garden. On my birthday, however, I wanted to find out: is it really worth a visit? Does it live up to its hype?
Pairi Daiza is located in Brugelette, in the province of Hainaut. There is a train station nearby and more than ample parking space for cars and buses. Lars and I had originally planned to spend at least half a day in the zoo, but after the battery of the car first broke down and afterwards our GPS stopped working as well, we only arrived there around 3 pm. As a consequence, we only saw about half of the zoo.
These jolly fellows greeted us upon entering the zoo.
The birds of prey were flying too high; they seemed to be unwilling to pose for my camera.
Our first impressions were quite positive, although the anteater seemed to be a bit lonely...
Next up; some graceful flamingos.
A steam train takes you around the whole zoo. Just a pity you have to pay extra for it.
To be honest, the scenery looked stunning.
We entered the Kingdom of Ganesha, where large and small animals seem to live together.
Lars and I were not ready for the next animal: the white tiger. This is actually a pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger. And what can I can say? What a magnificent creature!
There is a lot of climbing to do in the Kingdom of Ganesha... You really do feel like you are in some exotic place though.
The Asian elephants attract a lot of crowds. I think I took about 50 pictures of them! These are the best ones.
Lars and I moved from Asia to Africa, with wildebeest, cheetah and zebras. And African elephants!
Another stunning view, this time with the African village in the background.
The lions were particularly active that day...
We made a U-turn and took some extra shots.
And then we said hello to the giraffes.
Amidst the animals, Lars and I enjoyed a refreshing drink.
The fluffy grey thing in the tree is actually a koala.
Since closing time was approaching, Lars and I went to the exit.
Looking back on our visit to Pairi Daiza we do have some mixed feelings. On the positive side, there is a huge variety of animals, who are all very well taken care of. The scenery and architecture are stunning and there are lots of options when you are hungry and/or thirsty. But this all comes at a hefty price: I had to pay 36 euros, which is about 10 euros more compared to other popular Belgian zoos. Then there is the parking ticket, which will set you back another 7 euros and if you plan on taking the steam train, you pay 4,50 euros extra. And as far as we could see, the snacks and drinks are not cheap either. To be honest, I am actually not sure if I would return, even though we haven't seen all the animals.
In conclusion, if you do want to see a stunning zoo and you don't have a limited budget, we can recommend this.
