Three years ago

We were invited to London Zoo

On the day of Esther and William’s third birthday

This year I wanted to go back

To see how much the twins

And the zoo

Had grown and changed

We headed into London

On the hottest day of the year

And after a ridiculously long car drive from Kent

Got caught up at the entrance

With school group after school group

I was very worried that the day would be too hot and too busy

To be enjoyed

But I need not have worried

The zoo did not seem too full

And there was plenty of shade from the sun

Once through the gates

We had a peek at the penguins

Before finding some shade

To have some food from our picnic

And a drink

It really was very hot

So we were having a very slow rhythm to our day

After a snack we headed off to the brand new

Land of the Lions

Esther and William adore lions

Sparked by an obsession with The Lion King

This is the second year that their birthday

Has had a lion theme

We were so excited about getting up close to the lions

And could not wait to explore the new attraction

Land of the Lions

Is designed to resemble Sasan Gir

An Indian village in the heart of the Gir Forest

Where the last 500 wild Asiatic lions live

Land of the Lions

Has been created to transport visitors from the heart of London to the vibrant setting in India

Visitors enter through a grand stone archway, before picking up their ‘park pass’ at the Gir Tourist Information centre

They will then explore Sasan Gir Train Station

Where the odd lion might be spotted snoozing on the tracks

Or embark on a journey on the overhead walkway

To discover the troop of lively Hanuman langur monkey

And gaze across the lions’ forest home

We loved the setting

Together with the heat of the day

It did feel like we were on another continent

We loved the walkways

And exploring the train station

We loved all the different opportunities

For lion spotting

It was a fun way to begin our day

Sadly we saw only two out of a possible five lions

There are four females and a magnificent male, Bhanu

It was just too hot for them to be up and about

Much like it was too hot for our Bea

After the lions

We headed for the splash pool

To escape the heat of the day

The children had a marvellous time

Until it was time for Bea to sleep

After Bea’s nap and some lunch

We headed off to Tiger Territory

Esther and William love this area of the zoo

They love all the statues

The ideas for play

And following the tiger paw prints

We spent a lot of time here

It was lovely to see Bea exploring the setting

And we did see real tigers too!

After the tigers it was time for tortoises and dragons

Komodo dragons

Bea loved this area

And again we spent a lot of time here

Much of it playing in a tortoise shell!

Something they enjoyed doing three years ago too.

Our next visit was to the Gorillas

We were lucky enough to get up close

To an almost two year old toddler

And a nine month old baby

It was beautiful to see them interacting

And made me feel ridiculously emotional

As of course, Tilda was 9 months old

And Bea is almost two

It just made me so sad

And curious

I often wonder what our family dynamic would be

If Tilda were here

We had thought after seeing all the animals

We might return to the splash park area

Especially after a very hot walk to see the giraffes

I adore giraffes

Giraffes and penguins for me

Are the most beautiful creatures

And ones I love to watch

And could happily watch for hours

Giraffes are so beautiful and so graceful

Those eyelashes!

After seeing the giraffes

We headed back to the play area

We had a lovely ice cream

A bit of a play

And then ended our visit to the zoo

With a ride on the carousel

We had a lovely day at ZSL London Zoo

On the hottest day of the year so far

We saw lots of animals

Played in different play areas

Snoozed in the shade

And enjoyed some quality family time

We have all agreed that we would like to go back again

And I have a dream of spending the day at the zoo

Then heading to the West End to see The Lion King

If you are in or near London

And want a wonderful family day

Learning about animals

And aiding their protection and conservation

Then do please visit ZSL London Zoo

We were given free entry to London Zoo in return for an honest review of our day