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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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Why is it on us? We can’t control the amount of packaging these days. Guess who can? Oh yeah!-the conpanies who package their goods. Deal with them.
@a: Totally agree that we should hold these companies accountable. I’ve even written to some companies in relation to this.
However, we can also have a huge impact by not buying products with wasteful packaging. If we don’t buy the products, they won’t keeping making them.
We should also buy more local and second hand products. Charity shops are great for Christmas shopping.
@a: Exactly, you will see ‘My M&S’ ‘My this’ & ‘My That’ but when it comes down to it you will also see ‘YOUR WASTE’ – yourwaste.ie
They don’t want the waste yet they allow it to be produced.
@a: I wrote to my local TD (a green party TD) and never received any response but this was the gist of it. More expensive everyday items you buy in the likes of Dunnes generally (but not always) comes in packaging that is recyclable- stuff such as apples etc. But your same lower priced items in Lidl/Aldi etc do not and it’s this that is making a difference. There is also confusion amongst many between the difference of ‘made from recycled material’ and ‘recyclable material’ it confuses most and the packaging can be difficult to discern based on that. The onus should be on suppliers/packaging companiez/sellers and government to make it impossible to sell in non recyclable material.
No convenient recycling facilities available for polystyrene so this still goes into the general waste. Only lip service from companies to reduce reuse recycle but the consuner gets the blame
@Dangling Damo: Even though most of the bin collectors don’t allow it they will actually separate it in the recycling center. It’s purely a cost thing so it’s not a heinous crime like including wet waste or something which can mean an entire trucks worth of recycling is ruined.
I try to avoid such packaging when I can but I don’t feel one bit bad about sending it off in the bin when I do happen to need to get rid of some and I don’t have enough other stuff to justify a run to a bring site.
Limit your contacts,
Limit your travel ,
Limit your waste ,
Sure why don’t I limit oxygen aswell while I’m at it this Christmas
@JillyBean: You could
Selection boxes drive me mad. Complete waste of cardboard and plastic.
@Caroline Otoole: Absolutely right. Yet people still buy them and blame the companies who make them for the waste.
Kids don’t care about the box. Just buy a few chocolate bars instead.
@Caroline Otoole: Not just that they are packaged using cardboard and plastic, they make the packaging oversized to make it appear you are getting more than you actually are, an even bigger waste.
I am less concerned about the cardboard, but the plastic needs to be removed.
If the Govt implemented a returns process for that kind of plastic (like 10c per pack) going back to the point of purchase, those shops would then put pressure on suppliers to produce without the plastic.
Got a package from Amazon this week that would usually be wrapped in a box or plastic bag, but this came in a paper bag. It can be done.
@Conrad Shields: actually saw a post on twitter during the week about this. It was a photo of the packaging alongside the bit of chocolate thats in one. It was quite jarring.
@Caroline Otoole: totally agree! Over sized packaging!! I don’t buy selection boxes for this reason
I am calling on all journal readers to boycott these polls until a serious controversial topic is put up for discussion. The odd seasonal topic is OK, but not a relentless diet of them.
I made a perfectly valid point and was censored by the moderator.
@SteveBuzzard: I believe the moderator is fond of a box of After Eights. Do you see where I am going with this? :-)
Celebrating with my parents this year, thankfully, and they live in a zero waste household so I have no choice.
Make up gift sets and perfume packaging are the worst offenders next to children’s toys. I’m trying as best I can to avoid buying them. It’s not easy though.
@Teresa O’Donnell-Joyce: Keep it up. All we can do is our best. We just need to be conscious consumers.
Consider making your own gift sets with individually selected products instead of prepackaged sets. It’s a much more thoughtful gift. It’s not easy and takes extra time of course. I understand that sometimes it’s just not an option.
Good luck with the Christmas shopping.
@Jim Smith: My family will be given home baking gifts. Shame about my dodgy baking skills. It’ll be fun.
Yes I won’t be buying as much food this year like tins of sweets crisps biscuits etc. Wasted do much ladt year
Will buy some nice crackers cheese and maybe some nice meats to go with.
Stove ,free heat ,end of story.
I’m bought three rolls of wrapping paper last year, and I am still using it. But then again, the gifts weren’t huge to wrap.
@Lisa Saputo: gift bags are handy as you can reuse them next year once you don’t write on the tag
Moderator doesn’t like musical notes either. We’ll it’s their loss. It was a a wonderful comment;-)
and if people cannot limit their waste by eating and drinking moderately, they can recycle personal waste by using a compost lavatory.
No
I can’t be ars@d to wrap gifts, so this poll is perfect for me. I just used gift bags, that my Mammy saves and reuses the next Christmas!! We have been doing are bit for ages and didn’t even know it. Lol
I can’t be ars@d to wrap gifts, so this poll is perfect for me. I just used gift bags, that my Mammy saves and reuses the next Christmas!! Lol
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