Years ago, whilst volunteering with a Brownie Unit, the girls got to meet some animals, including a Meerkat, on a family fun day we held. I, due to my job at the time, had to work that day, so I couldn’t go. Work gave me the time back in lieu but obviously couldn’t give me meeting a Meerkat in lieu. Ever since then, I’ve felt like I missed out. Meerkats are one of my favourite animals (Giraffes, anything big cat and Zebras are up there too) so I’ve talked about a meet the Meerkat experience a fair bit since then. Good job, then, that I ended up meeting Meerkats at Bridlington Animal Park.
I’ve mentioned wanting to meet Meerkats to J a few times, always whilst watching Meerkats at some sort of zoo (we’ve had a bit of a run of zoo visits recently) and he’s never been that bothered. I figured it would be something I’d do on a solo trip, eventually. Then he booked for us both to go as a surprise, and told me whilst looking at Meerkats a few weeks before. It’s been so lovely getting excited about it.
Was it expensive meeting Meerkats at Bridlington Animal Park?
The 30 minute meeting Meerkats at Bridlington Animal Park experience is £35 per person, which includes entry to the park (usually £9.95). It effectively cost £25 extra to meet the Meerkats. I think that’s really reasonable.
What was the experience?
We had a quick briefing from the keeper who explained the rules, and then we went into the Meerkat enclosure. We had to walk carefully, because they dig, so there were loads of holes we were trying not to fall down! The group sat on some benches inside and the Meerkats came over to have a look at us, then the keeper got some food out.
Next we fed them some mealworms, then some mixed fruit and then their absolute favourite, melon, which drove them mad. We had a good 25 minutes or so interacting with the Meerkats.
How did it go?
It was AMAZING. The Meerkats climbed all over us, including on our heads, which was a bit weird at first but very funny. We were able to stroke them as they were climbing, they didn’t mind being touched at all, but they’re delicate so we weren’t allowed to pick them up. We had to be very careful with the melon otherwise they would’ve stolen the whole tub and ran away and ignored us, but that just adds to their character.
The enclosure also had Porcupines, who came running to see us when the keeper got some apples out, so we got to meet them too-an unexpected treat. I highly recommend the experience, honestly, it was brilliant.
What was Bridlington Animal Park like?
If I’m honest, we didn’t expect much from the park itself. We knew it was fairly small, and that tickets were around £10 for an adult, so it was never going to be as good as Chester Zoo for example. We thought we’d be there an hour before the Meerkat experience and would be done in that time. Actually, we were wrong.
The park isn’t huge, but it’s really cleverly done. You can buy animal food and feed some of their residents (about half of them, although a couple were allowed to be fed but didn’t want to be) so that took up a chunk of time. The goats especially were hilarious, fighting to get to the food the fastest. There’s also some animals you can’t feed but that are pretty interesting, like Zebras and Camels. I accidentally twinned with the Zebras, as you can see.
Bridlington Animal Park also has a few different keeper talks and informal animal meets-we met a some Skunks at 12, watched a show with the different birds they have at 1 and then handled some Guinea Pigs at 2, so it was pretty full on with no time to kill as it turned out.
In terms of just visiting the park, it’s maybe more for families than couples but it’s definitely worth going if you’re nearby or combining it with a family trip to the seaside, it’s a lovely place.
Would you consider meeting Meerkats at Bridlington Animal Park? Let me know in the comments.
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