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Bristol Zoo is open again and while not everything is quite the same, it was great to be back. Ian Waller reports…

As the country slowly starts to reawaken from its Coronavirus slumbers, it’s a great chance to revisit some of our favourite family venues across the South West as they emerge from hibernation. Bristol Zoo has always been a favourite, right back to when our three were babies and toddlers, and over the years we’ve revisited on numerous occasions, always enjoying seeing the animals on display.

Well the good news is that, following its COVID lockdown, the zoo’s doors are open again, albeit with a few changes along the way. First off, we needed to book our tickets on advance, and choose an arrival time so that queues can be avoided and the crowds don’t get too big.

Once inside, we were asked by the super friendly staff – all wearing PPE equipment – to follow the one-way paths and follow social distancing measures. In fact, this worked really well, helping to keep the children in some semblance of order and making sure we didn’t miss anything on our way around.

OK, not, not all of the indoor exhibits and playgrounds are open for obvious social distancing concerns. Still, the favourites such as the lions, gorillas, penguins and super-cute meerkats are there, along with a wonderful new Bricklive sculptures spread around the park, offering a new exhibition of sea creatures made entirely of small bricks.

These brick sculptures were amazing! With more than 50 animal models spread over the zoo’s 12 acres, we had a great time finding them all and trying to figure out how they were constructed. Among the highlights has to be the four metre long orca with its baby, which was created by a team of 20 builders and contains more than 220,000 bricks!

Other sculptures include a three metre long mako shark made up of more than 60,000 bricks which took a team of four builders more than 260 hours to create, a turtle made of over 27,000 bricks and a giant squid which contains more than 74,000 bricks.

There is also a model of a coral reef which contains over 24,000 bricks and took 159 hours to build. They are all so skilfully created and a real inspiration to anyone with a box of Lego at home!

Back to the animals and what a treat to see the stunning golden lion tamarins swinging through the trees, plus a baby tree kangaroo trying to hide away in its mum’s pouch!

While the restaurant is closed, we still enjoyed a picnic on the lawn, along with a cuppa and ice creams from the snack chalets that have remained open.

So our return visit to Bristol Zoo was a big success. No, it’s not quite the same as it was before, but we’re kind of getting used to that in so many ways. And with a lack of queues, spaces in the car park and those amazing brick sculptures to enjoy, we certainly weren’t complaining.

Find out more and book your tickets by clicking here…