With so much going on this year it felt like our last visit to Colchester Zoo was years ago. So when we discovered that Ethan would have a non-pupil day at the start of his half term holiday, and Little E’s one year check had been cancelled. We decided to spend the morning at Colchester Zoo thinking it would be nice and quiet.
When we arrived we couldn’t believe how busy it was, I think every school must have decided to have a non-pupil day and everyone with annual passes had the same idea.
Ethan is starting to have anxiety about big crowds and you can feel him tense up when he is unsure. This also means he clings to us which can be quite hard when trying to maneuver him and a buggy.
We took Ethan to visit his favorite animals, the sea-lions, penguins and orangutans but they were very busy and he wouldn’t leave my side.
We decided to go deeper into the zoo and the crowds thinned out and Ethan relaxed, I even got him to pose for a photo.
We ended up visiting the Koi and we had the area to ourselves. It was close to their feeding time which meant the koi would follow our every move. I don’t think Ethan was unaware of this but Little E was fascinated.
It was getting close to lunch time so we stopped for something to eat before calling it a day at the zoo as Ethan had a dentist appointment to attend.
Hopefully we won’t leave it so long before our next visit to the zoo.
We’ve made the mistake of thinking places would be quiet when our school had a non-pupil day too! Glad you managed to find some peace at the zoo.
We really wasn’t expecting it but now that we have to stick to school holidays etc we will have to get used to it :0(
It’s rubbish when the zoo is busy. Glad you found some space eventually. Never been to Colchester Zoo but with family nearby I’m sure we will before too long – nice to have a sneaky preview – thanks! #countrykids
Such a shame it was busy when you had planned it to well to escape the crowds, at least you found a few areas that Ethan was able to enjoy. It must be so hard to plan trips around school holidays. the penguins are my favourite too, so Ethan and I have that in common, I hope you get to return over the summer and he gets to see the penguins without the crowds. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
Awww looks like a nice day. When we are visiting busy places we tend to go far from the people as well. Its been awhile since we went to a Zoo but we will go next week on my son’s birthday. We will go at night too! So its something new so we are excited =) #countrykids
That sounds like a fantastic birthday trip. I hope you have a great time x