Oasis Park Zoo Fuerteventura – A family Fun Day Out

During our 2018 summer holiday to Fuerteventura, we had a family fun day out visiting the Oasis Park Zoo. We booked our tickets from the the Las Mariamas Hotel where we were staying, as it included return travel tickets on the excellent free courtesy bus.   The weather that day was scorching hot so we took lots of factor 50 and several bottles of ice water. The bus collected us from the hotel at 8.45 am taking approximately 40 minutes returning back from the park at 5.30 pm. The bus ride does take longer than it does to drive there ourselves, as the bus collected passengers from several other hotels.

Upon arrival we had a short walk to the entrance gates and were quickly in the Park. You can book the extra activities and bags of food to feed some of the animals at this point. We didn’t book any extras activities such as the safari experience which is a Camel ride inside and outside the park, as experience has proven on other family fun days out in similar venues, time passes by very quickly and we wanted to avoid rushing around in the scorching summer heat.

The first presentation we saw was the live parrot show, the birds were beautiful however, I was a little disappointed as the bird show area is small and cramped, apparently so the audience can get up close to the bird’s and so the birds can interact with the audience as they land on some of the grown ups heads. They do keep the first row reserved for children so they don’t miss anything, however,  we would never sit separated from the kids in such an environment, the thought of losing them is terrifying.

We had a walk around to look at the tropical plants and animals.

The scenery is breathtaking and the animals do have a lot of space to roam.

After a lovely stroll, we headed for the sea lion show which was definitely our favourite presentation of the day. The trainers are very close to the amazing and beautiful mammals called Nando, Ivonne, Lisa and Lobos. The bond and respect the trainers have for the stars of the show is very evident. The show was well scripted and jammed packed full of fun routines, using rings and balls the stars of the show jump out of the water to the rhythm of the familiar dance music. The best part for us was when the sea lions performed amongst the audience in the arena. We had our obligatory photo taken close up with one of the sea lions who was super cute, we collected the photos at the end of the day.

We had another stroll around the Park and worked up an appetite so we went for lunch at the restaurant. The waiter informed us how amazing the barbecue and grilled meats are so, we ordered three grilled meat mains and two kids meals. The order took a long time to arrive.  All three main dishes consisting of lamb and chicken were extremely disapointing as all the food was dry and tasteless and the kids meals were burnt. I would usually send such poor meals back however conscious of time ticking away, we ate what we could and left quickly to enjoy the rest of the day. We expect to pay over the odds when dining in a park like this but it was one of the worst meals we’ve ever had on holiday. If we were to return to The Park, we will definitely be taking our own picnic for lunch.

We had a great time feeding some of the Giraffes, elephants, Donkeys and Camels with the bags of fresh food and plants we bought earlier. This was the best part of the day for the kids who are still talking about their experience of getting up close to the beautiful animals.

 

 

 

After feeding we enjoyed some quiet time at the kid’s farm and park. We had a long wait queuing in the busy ice-cream parlour but it was worth the wait, especially after the disappointing lunch we had experienced earlier. One of  the lovely ladies who worked there offered to take some photos of us as we sat eating the delicious ice-cream. The kids enjoyed playing in the shaded playground so, we took our time enjoying a well deserved chill enjoying watching the kids playing.

We then had a very long walk to the birds of prey presentation as we missed the courtesy bus which takes you to several destinations within the park. The presentation arena is located at one of the parks highest points therefore, extremely hot in the scorching sun. However, it was a lovely walk back down towards the souvenir shop with some fabulous views on the way.

Despite some negatives that could have been avoided with better planning and preparation on our part, we did enjoy our day out at the Oasis Park. 

Top tips when visiting the Oasis Park Zoo

1 Book your entrance tickets in advance from your hotel as it does genuinely include your return travel on the courtesy bus.

2 Take lot of high factor sun cream as a lot of the park is open and exposed to the hot sun.

3 The park is vast and involves a lot of walking so wear your most comfortable footwear.

4  Also take a few extra bottles of water as some of the vending machines were out of service,  we witnessed lots of visitors having to divert from their planned route to purchase drinks from the kiosks.

5 Use the time-table and map to plan your day to ensure you don’t miss any of your preferred shows and presentations as, it is impossible to fit every experience in one visit.

6 Find out where and what times the courtesy buses are available within the park to save time.

7 If you eat at the Oasis Park restaurant choose from the menu carefully, if I were to eat there again I would order couple of pizzas to share to keep on the safe side as the barbecued and grilled meat they push you to eat is over priced and just not nice.

8 If possible take a picnic, there are lots of places to sit and enjoy your own food.

9 Make sure you purchase lots of food in the park for feeding the animals, for us this was the highlight of the trip and sadly we ran out.

10 Make sure you get to the presentations and shows early to get the best seats, we found the seating limited in quantity and some of the layout made it difficult to see everything.

I recorded lots of movie footage and thought it would be a great opportunity to share this edited version with you. Hopefully it will provide some further insight into our experience at the park,  I hope you enjoy xx 

For more information click here.

Have you been to the Oasis Park Zoo or do you have any theme parks you have enjoyed and would recommend? I am always seeking inspiration, I would love to hear of your experiences.

Lot’s of love

Dana x x x  

*This post is not sponsored or gifted. We paid for everything ourselves. We wanted to share our experience  and offer useful tips and insights for others looking for holiday inspiration.