Chessington England is educational and fun

We are staying with friends who used to live in Australia. They have a son 2 years younger than mine, and the boys are getting along so well. They were only 2 and 4 years old when they played last. What a change!

As soon as we were in the park, the fun started.  They went on this first ride 5 times!

Next up we headed to the monkey and animal enclosure area. What I loved about Chessington is the way they mix educational areas in with the fun and the rides.

We last say Capybara in Brazil. These actually looked healthier than the ones we saw in the wild. It was nice to see them up close and brought back memories of our time in the Pantanal Wetlands of Brazil.

There was also a pretty new baby in the yellow monkey enclosure. The boys loved that!

We stopped for some lunch and then went to the sea life and aquarium area.  No photographs of this as you cannot use a flash, but it was another great educational area.

The boys then decided to go on the Dodgem Cars. This was quite a long wait. Lots of school groups.
Both boys drove their own cars, with mothers as passengers and they loved it!

Another great educational area was the bird enclosure. Here you can buy a small cup of nectar to feed them for two pounds.  Both boys did this and the birds, fortunately, missed pooping on them. Funny enough, we used to have hundreds of these very birds in our huge gum tree back in Australia.  I never thought back then to give them any nectar. Now we are feeding them in a foreign country.  But it was more lovely memories.

We all went on the Ferris wheel next. Not a long lineup and only one loop around, but it was getting cold and so we didn’t mind a bit!  In fact, we had started out with sunscreen and hats when we left their home and ended up wishing it was jackets and not hats we brought with us.

One of the final things we did was take a safari ride.  This was brilliant. Here you sit (I recommend the center of the truck if you don’t want to get wet, and keep your bags off the floor) and we traveled through waterfalls, ponds, and African wildlife.

This just made me want to visit Africa all the more – something I have been thinking about of late.  The giraffes were so close at one stage I felt I could reach out and touch them.

There was a wide range of African animals – thankfully no lions though!

We loved seeing the zebras. I found it interesting that these are called black zebras.

We enjoyed watching the hippos having a tussle too!  It was all pretty great and ended with a mild washing of ourselves in a waterfall that floods the safari vehicle. Quite a few screams!

As you leave the safari, there is a walk around the small animal area with bubbles the kids (an adult like Linda) can pop in and out of.

Noooo – the day does not have to end declares the boys, but with MacDonald’s as temptation, we head back to our friends home for the boys to spend time on the X-Box.

For those of you who think kids who travel miss out on friends, I have to tell you Explorason has many full days with his friends – both new and old.  It is hard for them to leave, and in this case, it was Jack, Explorason’s friend who was so upset the next day.  But the great thing is we make friends all over the world. It is a rich and full life.

Today definitely was fun and educational too. Thanks to you Linda for a wonderful day. We felt really special and loved it! Thank you Chessington for a great park – it will be remembered well !!

Questions and Comments

• Are you a family that travels permanently?
• What fascinates you about England?
• Have you been to Chessington England?
• What experiences do you have?
• do share your opinions with us below.