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JUST A SHORT drive from Cork city, Fota Island is perhaps best known for its wildlife park, which attracts nearly half a million visitors every year.
But what’s the best way to plan a day or two on the island and get the most out of one of its main attractions? When you have young kids in tow, there’s not much scope to leave things to chance, so it pays to come armed with the right information.
We asked Roisin Fitzgerald, part of the team at Fota Wildlife Park, to share a few secrets.
When’s the best time to go?
Fota Wildlife Park is open all year around, but gets busiest during the summer holidays, when it runs extra events such as educational weekends, art workshops and yoga classes.
Whatever time of year you decide to visit, Fitzgerald recommends starting your day early so that you can see as much as possible and get in ahead of the crowds:
It’s a full day out – it’s a 100-acre park with a huge variety of animals and birds. A lot of people come before lunch, and they’ll typically spend at least three hours here. You need time just to observe the animals, walk around, have a picnic.
Pro tip: Plan your trip around some of the daily events such as wildlife talks and feedings. If you want to see the penguins being fed, you’ll need to be there in the morning (10.45am) or later in the afternoon (4.30pm).
Where can I park?
There’s a large car park at the entrance to the wildlife park, which costs €3 for the day. The car park is shared with Fota House – the 19th century estate located next door.
If you decide to get the train from Cork or further afield, there is a dedicated Irish Rail station with its own entrance into the wildlife park.
Pro tip: Entrance to Fota House’s grounds, gardens and arboretum is included in the €3 car park charge, so don’t forget to have a stroll around there after your trip to the wildlife park.
What are the top things to see?
Fota Wildlife Park is home to a wide variety animals, from meerkats and macaws, to penguins and kangaroos. Entrance to the park costs €16.70 for adults and €11.20 for children.
“Our animals are the number one draw and there are some firm favourites with visitors. When you walk through the main entrance the African Savannah paddock is right in front of you, so the first things you see are giraffes and zebras,” Fitzgerald says.
Something that’s creating great excitement at the moment is our four endangered Asian lion cubs. The cubs were born in late February so they’re extremely active at the moment. Then we have two beautiful black and white lemur babies that were born at the end of April, so they’re a very popular hit with the public as well.
Pro tip: Keep an eye out for the animals that roam free all around the park – you may be able to snap a close-up picture with the likes of peacocks, wallabies, kangaroos and lemurs.
Where’s the best spot to stop for lunch?
If you’ve worked up an appetite while checking out the animals, there are plenty of options for food and drink at Fota.
“At the main entrance we have the Savannah Cafe, which does tea, coffee, baked goods, soups, sandwiches. Then at the other end by the lake is the Oasis Cafe, which is a family restaurant with a huge outdoor area,” Fitzgerald says.
As you walk through the park we also have a food market area in the Asian Sanctuary, so there’s food stalls with pizza, coffee, ice cream, cold drinks, hot dogs. Plus it’s beside the activities tent so there’s usually face painting and arts and crafts there.
Pro tip: Bring along a picnic and a blanket and eat your lunch out in the open. “There’s picnic areas and plenty of green grass, so a lot of visitors bring something with them to eat,” Fitzgerald adds.
How can I escape the crowds?
If the wildlife park is getting busy or you’ve managed to see a bit of everything, there are still plenty of other things to do nearby. Next door is Fota House, where you can take a tour of the restored building to see what life was like in the 19th century, or explore its Victorian gardens.
There’s also Fota Island Resort, which has a hotel, restaurant, spa and golf club, as well as the Fota Island Adventure centre, which offers activities such as obstacle courses, orienteering, kayaking and archery.
“There’s plenty of options if you’re on a day trip or staying for the weekend. Everything from nature and wildlife, to accommodation, walking tours, food and dining, outdoor and water activities,” Fitzgerald says.
Pro tip: Fota is just one of the Cork Harbour Islands, so keep in mind that it’s just a short journey if you want to go and explore Cobh, Little Island or Spike Island.
Are there any hidden gems to look out for?
Fota Wildlife Park is constantly expanding, so even if you’ve visited before, keep an eye out for some of its newer additions.
“We recently added a new animal in the Tropical House – the sloth. Matheo is a two-year-old two-toed sloth, who was transferred earlier this year from Stuttgart,” Fitzgerald says.
He’s a nocturnal animal and tends to sleep a lot during the day, so you have to go look for him and you may need some patience to spot him.
Pro tip: Conservation is a big part of the work at Fota, so look out for two new wildflower gardens that were introduced to address pollinator decline. “That’s another little gem that people might miss when they’re walking around,” Fitzgerald adds.
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Well done President Trump and President Putin.
@Steve Miller: and president Assad.
@Steve Miller: I’ll second that one!, well done President Trump!…
When will the refugees start going home?
@Steve Miller: 500k have already returned so far this year as the Syrian govt brings more areas under its control.
@Andy Brown: “440,000 internally displaced Syrians and about 31,000 of those who fled abroad have now come back”
Well done to Russia and Trump for putting an end to this war.
@Irreverent Reverend: Unbelievably premature statement. Ceasefires are notorious for breaking down in this region and in this war, it’s absolute madness to say that the war is over.
@Malachi:
Cutting off funding, weapon supplies and supply routes should help.
This conflict has gone on for too long.
@George Vladisavljevic: Where did you see anything about funding being cut?
The US and Russia have struck a tentative deal that seems to be holding, for now, in Southwest Syria. I don’t see anything that suggests the respective countries have abandoned their preferred factions in the region.
Even if they did do such a thing, there are far too many countries involved in this war for a US-Russia agreement to halt funding to any one side. Think of Turkey, Iran, etc. with interests they want to pursue in the region. This kind of thing has happened before and has broken down before.
I agree that it has gone on too long, but that’s hardly a controversial point.
@Malachi:
I believe that if the Russians and the Americans want a ceasefire to hold it will hold atleast for the groups that they back.
ISIS is a different matter, but if they both put pressure on them and their backers, the conflict could be ended relatively soon.
@George Vladisavljevic: As I said, there are more forces at work than just the Russians and Americans. We’ll see how it pans out – but you have to admit that proclaiming the war is over (after what is it, three major failed ceasefires already?) is premature to the extreme.
Not too concerned about the fight against ISIS, that’ll be done relatively soon. It’s the major divisions that still exist in Syria that are going to keep the conflict going between the opposition and Assad.
@Malachi:
I agree with you about other forces being involved and it would be nice to see the US and the Russians in working together to end the conflict. If they did, others such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and others would not have much choice but to stay out, that is if the US and Russia worked together in really wanting to stop the confkict.
US seems to be excepting that Assad will stay in power at least in some parts of Syria…..Departure from the insane Obama policy of regime change with millitary supplies to the so called moderate Sunni rebels…..With IS close to final defeat hopeful signs of end of 6 year Syrian war….
Good news. I can’t see the so called Caliphate playing any part in this though. Not a huge fan of the Russians or Americans but common sense prevailed here, the enemy is ISIS and groups mimicking them.
Only skimmed it but didn’t see a mention of Trump or Putin. AFP are more butthurt than redditors at this point it seems.
This is the action of a New World Order I can get behind!
They might as well there’s nothing left to fight for the whole country’s nearly destroyed.
@Dave Hogan: it’s strategic value will never be destroyed.
@Dave Hogan: that’s not even close to being true. Stop spouting rubbish you clearly don’t know anything about
Trump and Putin got it done. I don’t care who is responsible as long as it can hold off some suffering. Credit where credit is due. Hopefully it can be built upon.
Fake news. Assad warplanes still dropping bombs this morning
@Mr Scientist: The ceasefire covers the Southwest, and so far even rebel sources have said that it is holding. Don’t know where you saw that about Assad warplanes, do you have a link?
@Malachi: @worldonalert twitter. Videos of regine warplanes dropping bombs this morning in Ein Tarma.
@Mr Scientist: You lazy b0l0x. I couldn’t find any link that was less than 3 days old. I’ll have to discount your “facts” until you can provide evidence.
@Virtual Architect: are you incapable of scrolling through a timeline on Twitter. Several put up there today ya sap
@Mr Scientist: I saw a plume of smoke over a city allegedly recorded today, that’s about it. Not terribly convincing I must say. What videos did you see?
Also, why are the rebels not claiming that Assad has violated the ceasefire already? They immediately did so last time he did, in January. If the rebels are not saying Assad’s warplanes violated ceasefire, I’d be very skeptical he did.
@Malachi: what evidence are you basing on the ceasefire is holding? I’m following multiple accounts on Twitter with the people operating within syria saying the ceasefire talk is a joke. Rebels also not following it.
@Mr Scientist: http://www.euronews.com/2017/07/09/us-russian-ceasefire-deal-holding-in-southwest-syria
“A UK-based Syrian observer and several rebel groups in the area said calm was prevailing [...] witnesses reported no warplanes or significant fighting.”
I remember it being all over the media when Assad violated in in January, as I said. No such reports this time, and SOHR would definitely be all over it.
@Malachi: UK based syrian observer is a middle aged man sat in Coventry, I’d take that with a pinch of salt. Reason why violations were reported last time because US were not involved. Suddenly now there the ones to broker it with Russia and all western media outlets say it’s holding. Gimme a break..
@Mr Scientist: I don’t particularly trust SOHR, my point was that he’s pro-rebel and would definitely report on a ceasefire violation if it was all over twitter as you suggest.
US backed forces were involved when there was a major ceasefire attempt at the tail end of 2016. The ceasefire wasn’t brokered by the US that time, sure, but do you really think this is just completely flying under the radar of even pro-rebel sources like SOHR and rebel leadership, who haven’t said a peep?
I did see reports from a few journalists that there were skirmishes and bombings in the “de-escalation zones” set up by the Russians/Turks a while back, but that was before this ceasefire came into effect. No claims of violations within that period have been convincing.
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