Hamerton Zoo
Summary
This is another of those attractions which seems to fly under the radar a bit. Located out in the middle of nowhere you feel like you’ve stumbled upon some secret wildlife sanctuary when you finally reach it.
For a small zoo it has a surprisingly good variety of animals both big and small. The price is pretty standard for this level of attraction, a family of 4 is likely to cost around £60 to enter. They’re also constantly expanding so who knows what it will be like in years to come? Bring on the Tigerkats! (Tigers bred with Meerkats – how cool would that be?!).
Things to do
- The animals The animals kind of make or break a good zoo right? And until we get those Tigerkats you’ll have to make do with some more traditional animals Hamerton does well here with a mix of big animals like Tigers, Cheetah’s, Bears and Camels as well as some of those animals who, bless them, are there to make up the numbers (sorry birds and donkeys I’m lumping you in here). Having said that there’s a new aviary in which contained seemingly millions of bright tiny birds who dart around your head a breakneck speed (‘bright tiny birds’ is their Latin name I believe). Depending on the age of your children there’s enough variety to spend several hours looking at the animals. I don’t particularly want to get into the ethical Zoo debate but on the whole they seem very well kept with enclosures suitable for their size. Oh and they had a Giant Anteater which is just a hilarious looking animal (sorry pal).
- The play area So all zoos now need a good play area and Hamerton’s is pretty good. My two oldest kids (6 and 4) certainly enjoyed it and there’s a few things for toddlers too. Alas my personal favourite the Zip line had too long a queue for me to feel able to have a go myself (boo you pesky kids!) but the boys most enjoyed the ground maze which they spend a good 15 minutes trying to get through (they could of course have just walked out as it’s a ground maze but you gotta love their persistence.
- Café Being tight I don’t think I would ever buy lunch at a zoo. No idea why – if we went to theme park I probably would. Anywho I did stretch my budget to a cup of tea and carton for the kids (that’s one each not to share before you suggest otherwise – I know generous or what!). Not sure there’s much I can say about beverages other than they were exactly as you’d expect.
- The gift shop “’Zoo has gift shop’ shock!” I hear you say. Yes very soon you too could take home your very own Tigerkat cuddly toy. It’s a small gift shop with various zoo related items. But then you knew that already…
2 Good / 2 Bad
- As a lover of big zoo animals there’s lots to see here
- Everything is easy for the kids to see, there’s even a small train to ride if you want
- If you’re used to bigger zoos you may be disappointed in the lack of polish
- Where were the Tigerkats?!
My Dadventure rating
A decent small zoo which is good enough to fill half a day, maybe more if you go round twice!
Information
Website: https://www.hamertonzoopark.com
Address: Hamerton, Nr Sawtry, Cambs, PE28 5RE
Phone: 01832 293362