Winter holidays are here and a great venue to take the kids to is the Montecasino Bird Gardens. We took advantage of my father visiting and decided to make a morning of it.
The last time we took Nicky to see animals he was six months old and it was the zoo. He was more interested in the hedges in front of the animals. I had him in the pouch. This time he was a lot older (just turned two) so I was curious to see how he would react to the birds and animals.
I was in two minds whether to take the stroller or not, but in the end I was glad that I did. Little ones get tired of walking and adults get tired of carrying! The only thing I will say is that there are sections (e.g. the netted part in the middle where certain birds and animals are kept) where there are stairs and I was grateful to have two men with me to assist. Otherwise the rest of the park has great pathways. For the actual “Flight of Fantasy” show they request that you leave your stroller at the back or have it next to you where you are sitting. It needs to be away from the main walk ways as they need the areas for their performance.
Initially when we got there I could see Nicky was a bit scared of the big birds. He was glad to be safe in his stroller. I took him out but he clung to me so I put him back in.
We went inside an enclosure that had frogs. I put Nicky right next to the glass so that he could see the frog. There were big frogs too, but they were more difficult to see since they were not moving.
Nicky absolutely loved the lemurs. He laughed at their movements. I think the way they played together reminded him of our dogs and he thought this was hilarious.
He also enjoyed the parrots. As you approach them, they actually say “Hello!”
We then went to the netted area and saw more animals and birds. We also saw some huge fish which Nicky liked. He was familiar with them because we have seen them before at the Dstv customer centre.
We then saw a colourful bat which Nicky pointed at and then a black bat crawling on the wire barrier.
By this time it was time for the show, so off we went. We sat right at the back to be near to the stroller.
I have seen this show before so for me I enjoyed watching Nicky and seeing what he thought of all of this. Suffice to say it is very entertaining and also provides a conservation theme.
Some of the birds were difficult for him to see, and much more interesting for him was the balloon going up and down behind the stage.
Nicky also likes clapping and enjoyed joining in the applause at the relevant moments.
We continued to look at various birds. The other nice thing about the stroller is the ability to keep your toddler restrained, as the signs all around tell you to take care of biting birds. I even saw a bird attacking a phone that was held right up against the barrier.
We then went and had some lunch at the tea garden. This is a lovely place surrounded by birds. It also has a jungle gym. I would say this was more appropriate for older children but I helped Nicky up and slid down with him.
They also had cute little benches and tables for kids, one of which the waiter very kindly moved closer to our table so he ate with us. Nicky had a hot dog and some chips. He only ate the chips though.
All in all, a fabulous place for both adults and kids to spend the day these holidays.
For more information, go to their website here.
(This post was first posted on ZAparents / JoziKids in a shorter version here).
The zoo is my favorite place to take my boys when they were younger. They were always mesmerized by the animals. They still are but it’s not quite as magical for them as wen they were smaller.
We have been here, but I would love to take Little Missy again! It is a great outing!
Looks like a fun time!
We have been and the kids loved it – it is a great outing.
How fun! I love going to places like this myself. I can’t wait for winter because it’s already 100* here, blah! I’m stopping by from SITS & I hope you guys are having a great Saturday!