The Tropical House

On Thursday Tom took us to see the new tropical house at Marwell Zoo. We have been waiting for this to open for what feels like forever! Tom goes to the zoo almost every week so we have watched it being built and kept updated via social media.

As Tom is an annual member of the zoo he got priority viewing of the tropical house. When we got to the tropical house on Thursday we had around a 15 minute wait before they let us in. There were a lot of people waiting as many people had booked the first slot of the day and wanted to be the first people in there to see all of the exciting plants and animals. Tom was allowed to be the very first guest to ever go into the tropical house, we felt like VIPs walking along the walkway!

The tropical house was very hot, we were obviously dressed for the cold outdoors temperature so we had to take a few layers off Tom so he didn't overheat. The tropical house was beautiful. There were so many lovely trees and plants throughout, my favourite being a banana plant!

The first animal you see is a two-toed sloth, he was very cute! The enclosures are done so beautifully, with the sloth having lots of planation and also a waterfall. Other animals in the tropical house included pygmy marmosets, tortoise, crocodile monitor lizard, mouse deer and a variety of fish and ants.

The tropical house was on two different levels but they have done it so beautifully that you don't have ramps or lifts. the decking has a gradual slant and so it is super easy to get around with a wheelchair. The walkways are also really wide so you don't feel rushed to move out the way of anyone.

At the end of the tropical house there is a sort of enviromental science section. This is where you can learn about how the zoo wants to power itself with animal poo! There are lots of different coloured lights and it is a great sensory environment!

We loved the tropical house, Marwell zoo has done very well in creating a fun, educational and very accessible environment for both children and adults. If you are in Hampshire be sure to check out Marwell zoo.