For a small child, nothing beats a real animal. Watching a penguin waddle, a colourful parrot or a lizard basking in the sun can be the memory they take home from the whole trip. The Canary Islands have parks, aquariums and nature centres designed for families, and some animals that exist nowhere else in the world. Here is our selection, seen through Mapi’s eyes.
Mapi says
Watch animals calmly, without shouting or touching. That way they feel safe and are easier to see.
Tenerife: Loro Parque
In Puerto de la Cruz, Loro Parque is one of the best-known zoological parks in Europe, with more than 400 species. For little ones, the highlights are Planet Penguin and Kinderlandia, its children’s area. With babies, it is worth starting early and letting the nap happen in the pushchair.
Gran Canaria: birds, butterflies and a huge aquarium
In a ravine in the south of the island, Palmitos Park combines an animal park and a botanical garden, with daily bird and dolphin shows, an aquarium and a butterfly house. In the capital, the Poema del Mar Aquarium has more than 550 species and one of the largest curved windows in the world, and is open 365 days a year.
Fuerteventura and Lanzarote
In La Lajita, Oasis Wildlife Fuerteventura, formerly Oasis Park, is the island’s zoo and botanical garden, with elephants, hippos, lemurs, sea lions and camel safaris. In Tefía, the La Alcogida Ecomuseum has farm animals in a restored traditional village, with free entry for children. And in Puerto del Carmen, Rancho Texas Lanzarote Park adds bird, sea lion and dolphin shows to its Aqua Rancho water area.
The animals that live only in the Canary Islands
Mapi loves the species found only in the islands. In El Hierro, the Guinea Ecomuseum and Lizard Centre breeds the El Hierro giant lizard, an endangered species that lives only there. In Gran Canaria, the Viera y Clavijo Canarian Botanical Garden, free to enter, is a great place to spot giant lizards sunbathing among around 500 endemic plant species.
Tips for visiting with little ones
Check the show times beforehand and plan the visit around one or two of them, rather than trying to see everything. Bring caps, water and sun cream, and look for shady spots for breaks. And if the day turns grey, the aquarium in Las Palmas is the best shelter.