Africa Alive! – One of the Best Zoos in East Anglia
We have visited many of the zoos in East Anglia. We are lucky that the region has so many wonderful wildlife parks with a diverse range of animals. This week we had a day trip to Africa Alive and found it was one of the best things to in Lowestoft. Below is my Africa Alive review. I have also added some useful information including Africa Alive ticket prices and a new way to get discounted Africa Alive tickets.
Where is Africa Alive?
Africa Alive! (formerly Suffolk Wildlife Park) is a zoo in East Anglia which focuses on animals from Africa. The zoo is close to the seaside towns of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. It is easy to get to by car as it is just off of the A12.
What makes this one of the Best Things to in Lowestoft?
The zoo is set over 100 acres. The enclosures are large but the clever layout means you never feel miles away from the action. Even though we visited at an off-peak time there were still regular feeding talks throughout the day and we were able to get along to a few with no trouble. The central feature is a large paddock home to African plains animals including rhinos, giraffes, zebras and ostriches.
There seems to have been a conscious decision not to have elephants at the zoo. Instead, they have focused space and resources on smaller and lesser-known species. The conservation message is also clear with the animals they do have.
We enjoyed the new red river hog enclosure and talk and the giraffe talk. Walking through a lemur enclosure is always a fun experience. This kids were most excited to go on the train but would not sit still for a single second while we were on it.
The stamp trail was excellent. Not too difficult which is always important with a 2 and 4-year-old and there was genuine excitement about the medal they got at the end. Ted chose one with a flamingo on and Miss May had a lion.
Favourite Animals at Africa Alive!
Each of us had a favourite animal. I was very excited to see Africa Alive had a Fennec fox. They are probably the cutest animal you will ever see. David loved the fossa exhibit. They are not an animal you often pay attention to in zoos but they had made an effort here and they are beautiful animals. Ted (age 4) is always a fan of flamingos and the last thing we saw, in this case, the lions. May (age 2) was most excited to see the piggies when she woke up that morning but when I asked her in the car park as we left she said the zebras were here favourite. I’m not sure how reliable her testimonial is, we didn’t get very close to the zebras so I suspect she saw something in the gift shop.
Africa Alive Amenities
What else is there to do at Africa Alive, aside from the animals? There is a decent cafe near the entrance with children’s options. There are also smaller kiosks around the site which are open in high season.
To keep the children entertained in the cafe area there is a large outdoor play area and mini-golf. If the weather isn’t great they also have an indoor soft play area. Mini golf costs extra but everything else is included free.
Africa Alive Prices
Africa Alive ticket prices can be found on their website. They vary depending on the season from £12.95 to £19.95 for adults and £10.95 to £14.50 for children. Under 3s are always free.
We stumbled across a fun new way to get Africa Alive discounted tickets. All BIAZA zoos in East Anglia have signed up to a great zoo deal. If you purchase a season ticket from any of the zoos listed below you will not only get benefits at the zoo you bought your pass from, you also get half-price entry to all of the other zoos. Here are the zoos signed up to the East Anglia zoos deal:
- Africa Alive
- Amazona Zoo
- Banham Zoo
- Jimmy’s Farm
- Linton Zoo
- Paradise Wildlife Park
- Raptor Foundation
- Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure
- SEA LIFE (Great Yarmouth)
- Shepreth Wildlife Park
- Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens
- Woodside Wildlife Park
You can read much more on all the zoos in this list in my post on East Anglia Zoos.
We bought a family pass (2 adults and 2 children) for £100 for Linton Zoo. We live close to Linton so we have used the pass to visit that zoo twice so far. For our visit, the passes saved us around £25 for 2 adults and 1 child. At Africa Alive we didn’t have to pay for our 2-year-old which we would have to at Linton Zoo.
Want to find more things to do in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth? Check out this post on Jurassic Journey.
We love a trip to the zoo. The giraffes are always my favourite.
It looks like a nice place to visit for a family day out x
Right. Adding this to the list of places I’m taking my godson to. I still haven’t visited any zoos outside of London!
This looks like a great animal park, I love that they properly convey the message of conservation. That’s a great deal too that they have all signed up to the offer
I have not heard of this zoo before but it looks like a great place to visit – my kids love a trip to the zoo
What a lovely zoo. I would love to visit it with the kids.