An Afternoon Tea To Remember #RLDTasters

If you are looking for an afternoon tea with a difference you might want to head to Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. I have spent many long days at this zoo with my daughters in the playgrounds, on the train, in the sand pit, in the splash pool and even occasionally looking at animals. When Red Letter Days invited me to taste one of the experiences on offer at the zoo I was excited to have a look around child free and have afternoon tea with the some tigers! 

A tiger lying on a wooden platform

Starting at the Discovery Centre I had a hot drink and chatted with the lovely Red Letter Day ladies and the other bloggers who were invited. When the Paradise Wildlife Park team took over we were shown a short video about the park before heading out into the zoo. Our tour guide (who had a handy microphone so we could easily hear him) took us around some of the animals, talking to us about the history of the park as well as giving us interesting facts. Did you know that White Tigers are white because of selective breeding programmes rather than it being a natural advantage for living in snow covered areas? And penguins have white bellies so when they are swimming in the sea they are camouflaged with the sky when predators look up?

A red panda eating some bamboo

We took a meandering route to the main attraction: the Big Cats. Paradise Wildlife Park has a large selection of cats, as well as the previously mentioned White Tiger they have Snow Leopards, Jaguars, White Lions, an Ocelot, a Cheetah and normal Tigers. There is a raised walkway which allows you to have a better view of some of them, or you can watch them from the ground. Excitingly they have recently just welcomed a baby jaguar called Keira, but sadly she isn’t yet ready for public viewing (she should be out soon though). The cats are in different size enclosures and while they feel big enough for the animals to have some freedom, they aren’t so large that you struggle to get a glimpse of them.

Me standing with a Bakewell Tart in front of a glass window, behind me two tigers are visible

At the end of the tour we were taken to the Tree Tops Cafe which was opened exclusively for us to have afternoon tea. This cafe is open during peak times for anyone to have a snack and even though I have been there before I didn’t find it any less impressive second time around. One wall of the cafe is a glass window looking straight out into the tiger enclosure. Assuming the tigers don’t hide you get a pretty amazing view of these majestic animals while you sip your tea.

A tray of scones with strawberry jam then fluffy cream on top

The afternoon tea itself doesn’t compare in quality to top London hotels, but there was a lovely selection of cakes, macaroons, sandwiches, biscuits, scones and crisps. To drink you could choose from a selection of juice, coffee or tea. I was happy to see they had decaf tea too. I had requested a dairy free selection in advance and they had been able to provide this. While I was jealous of some of my favourite foods being on offer (I love macaroons and scones with cream and jam) I didn’t feel I was missing out with the dairy free offering. 

A selection of packets of tea in front of white mugs

All the experiences at Paradise Wildlife Park include entry to the zoo so once I had finished tea I wandered around with my partner and toddler. I had abandoned my family at the gate when we arrived, but they didn’t mind, they had a great time in the soft play, on the swings and then looking at some animals. Little was a particularly big fan of the otters. You can find out more and buy the Tea with a Tiger experience here. 

A otter at Paradise Wildlife Park in front of a log

***Disclosure: Thank you to Red Letter Days for inviting me on this taster and for arranging entry for my partner too. ***


Me posing with a lion and a red balloon in front of a sign advertising Paradise Wildlife Park

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7 comments

  1. A Strong Coffee4 July 2017 at 13:15

    Was lovely to see you there. I hadn't noticed a splash park. It is certainly a place my boys would enjoy to visit x

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  2. Jeannette Cripps5 July 2017 at 15:00

    What a fantastic experience! I'd love tea and a scone with a tiger x

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  3. Debbie - Hello Deborah5 July 2017 at 19:04

    I love the zoo so this sounds perfect!! I knew about the penguins but not about the tigers. I'd love to have a tour guide at the zoo, I never find people to ask questions to. I'm glad they were able to provide you with a dairy free option.

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  4. DebSharratt6 July 2017 at 11:29

    Instead of the tiger coming to tea you had tea with a tiger - fab x

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  5. Musings of a tired mummy...zzz...6 July 2017 at 11:34

    Looks like a fab afternoon out, extremely jealous! Great that they could cater for your dietary needs

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  6. Michelle6 July 2017 at 18:43

    Wow looks like an amazing experience. love the photos

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  7. Babiesandbeauty8 July 2017 at 17:11

    I didn't even know this existed, looks like you had a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete

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