Hi my name is Star and I have been lucky enough to call Gran Alacant my home for over 11 years now. My 10 year old daughter Ashlee and I are often “Out & About” enjoying the local attractions and culture in this part of Spain. Over the next few months I will be sharing some of our experiences with you to encourage you to go “Out & About” yourselves and maybe learn a little bit about this beautiful place we call home.
On a lovely sunny day in January, Ashlee and I met up with some friends and headed to Terra Natura in Murcia. If you have a car you can drive there in just under an hour via the A7 and it is extremely close to IKEA. Regular readers will know that Ashlee and I absolutely love Terra Natura in Benidorm and visit many times throughout the year. We have only been to Terra Natura Murcia once, about 7 years ago, and felt we were long overdue a visit.
As Ashlee and I have annual passes for Terra Natura in Benidorm we got a 50% discount on the regular Winter Season entry prices which are €14 for kids aged 3 to 12 and those over 60 and €18 for anyone aged 13 to 59. However, if you buy the tickets via their website in advance you will only pay €12 for adults and €8 for kids and seniors. In the Summer Season tickets cost €20 for 3 to 12 year olds and those 60 and over and €25 for 13 to 59 year olds. During the Summer the Aqua Natura water park opens and has a slow river, a splash park, a pool especially for the under 3s, a kids area with small slides and a drenching bucket. They also have racing slides, a black slide, a kamikaze slide and a speed slide.
At the entrance we bought tubs of corn and carrots to feed the animals and then followed a winding path until we came across a tent and an old train carriage which gave us a great view into the lion enclosure. We went past a couple of restaurants and a covered park and headed across a long walkway that took us above the African Savannah, where we saw a Rhino and lots of Zebras, Buffalos, Ostriches and Gazelles. We passed through a gate and found ourselves on a fenced path where we were able to feed the Mouflon (horned sheep).
Next came one of the highlights of our visit which was the beautiful family of brown bears who absolutely loved eating the carrots we gave to them. The trail then took us past many different types of Deer, Sheep, Iberian Wolves and Otters. Our next stop was the Aviary where we admired the many different varieties of birds. In the Wetlands we decided to stop to eat and were surprised at the amount of food that was included in the reasonably priced menus. There was also another covered park here where the kids enjoyed
burning off some steam.
We then headed into the Kenyan area where we saw Meerkats, Hippos, Giraffes, Monkeys and Lemurs, before heading back along the walkway over the Savannah to go to the bird show. During the bird show we saw many different Birds of Prey and Ashlee and Arya were lucky enough to be involved in the show and have Harris Hawks fly to their hands. The show was really good and ended with an amazing flock of colourful birds flying around our heads before landing in the middle of the stage area.
Another activity we were looking forward to was the feeding of the Giraffes but as we had some time we decided to go for another speedy trip around the animals before heading to the Giraffe enclosure. The keeper talked to us about the 2 Giraffes that live there and explained their dietary preferences. The kids lined up to take it in turns to feed them, and as it wasn’t busy, they kept rejoining the back of the queue and were able to feed the Giraffe a number of times.
Ashlee, Dylan. Arya, Ivy, Neil, Kayleigh and I really enjoyed our visit to Terra Natura Murcia and will definitely return. Although it is smaller than Terra Natura in Benidorm we loved seeing all the animals, especially the Bears, Giraffes, Lemurs, Meerkats and Hippos as they don’t have them in Benidorm.
Until Next Time
Star & Ashlee xxx
