Marwell Zoo is in the heart of the beautiful Hampshire countryside, just eight miles from Winchester, five from Eastleigh and twelve from Southampton. Last week Maxwell and I were invited to visit and attend the Sunset Party in the Park.
The Sunset party is a opportunity to visit the zoo after hours and see the animals at sunset, meet the keepers who care for them and enjoy special talks.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Pom Bear who was giving new zoo snacks away to the visitors. It was a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to be happy and excited to be there. We were given a map of the park which included all the activities for the night. I found this to be very helpful.There was a long que which went down quickly and we were soon in the park.
Once in the park we saw The Big Noise Samba Band. The band were very loud but made the park come to life. It was great to see such talented people. Maxwell did not like the noise so much as it was quite loud for his ears but I really enjoyed watching along with many other visitors.
We set off to look around the zoo. Maxwell and I were excited to see the animals and to see the other activities which were going on throughout the night. Maxwell and I enjoyed seeing the animals on the night however we did find some of them to be asleep as we neared the end of our walk around the zoo. We adored the meerkats and the hippos but we were not so keen on the dark bat house which was a little smelly. We found that the talks about the animals were very factual and we learnt many new things.
We found that there were plenty of places to sit down and enjoy a family picnic but we also found that there were plenty of cafes around the zoo to buy some food from.There were some park areas where there were slides and swings for the children to enjoy as well as clean toilets and baby changing areas which is always something I notice when visiting places.There was a bouncy castle for the children to enjoy on the night as well as fantastic fire performers and some large pigeons who walked around the park. We sadly missed the fire performers as we did not know where they were but we did hear many people talk about the performance and say it was great.
There is plenty of parking at Marwell and the car park is situated just a small walk away from the entrance. There is also a bus at Marwell for people to get to and from Eastleigh train station. The bus departs from Eastleigh every half and hour. The people from Marwell have really thought about everyone.
There is still time for you to buy tickets to visit the Sunset Party in the Park on 21st of June and I would highly recommend going.
Overall the night was very enjoyable and I would recommended anyone of any age to go. It is fun for all the family and you can take away a lot from the zoo.
Thank you Marwell for giving us such a great night out!
I did not receive any financial reward for writing this review.However we did recieve free entry into the zoo. Everything written in this post is my own, honest opinion.
