Easter 2023 Liverpool Trip – Day 2 Knowsley Safari Park

Posted on April 3, 2023 by happymindswithbusma

We went out for breakfast because we couldn’t get any bread yesterday. There are a few coffee shops nearby that opens for breakfast but only Mother Espresso opens early enough for us to go (8am Mon – Fri). It was quiet when we arrived at 8:30am, only 2 other customers were there. Slowly more people came. We sat in the long bench in the middle and it was spacious between seats.

We waited for a long time for our food. But worth the wait because the food is nice and hot and super yummy! J had a French toast, originally to be shared with me (as I did not know how big it was and did not want to waste any food) but he finished the whole thing by himself. So I had some of Mr. B’s toast and egg.

After breakfast we drove to Knowsley Safari Park.

When did we visit:

We visited on a Monday in early April. It was sunny but cool. We first went to the road safari soon after it was opened at around 10:30am, and there was not too many cars. Then we did a second trip to see the monkeys at around 11:30am and there were some queues of cars.

It was quite busy in the afternoon in some of the attractions for example the sea lion show was packed with people, and so as the rides. But other animal attractions did not have that much people and it was pleasant to walk around.

What age is it best for:

From toddlers to adults. I think people of all age would enjoy the experience especially the Road Safari where you can get to (sometimes) closely see (some of) the animals.

How long we spent at the venue?

We arrived at 10:15am and left at 4:30pm. It’s definitely a whole day out.

What else are there to see or do?

Animal displays and talks – We went to one of the shows which is the sea lions and it was excellent. Many info to learn, and it was fun to watch because the sea lions did tricks and cute stuff, and the demonstrator did a great job at bringing up the atmosphere. There were loads of laughters and cheers. We also listened to the giraffe talk and learn quite a bit about them.
Amusement rides – There are a few rides for little ones to enjoy. Additional charges applied. We did not do them because J was not interested.

Things that definitely worth to play or do:

Definitely the Road Safari and the sea lion show.

If I were to do the Road Safari again next time, I will pay extra to ride in the Baboon Bus because I don’t want the monkeys to damage my car again like this time (see pictures below). We found these monkeys are more aggressive than the ones we saw in Woburn Safari Park . The ones here bit our car, pulled out the windscreen wipes several times, and one pulled out and twisted the plastic thing on our car roof. Luckily we were able to put it back and did not seem to cause a huge problem. Before we enter the monkey enclosure, there were clear signs warning there might be possible damages by the monkeys. So just be aware of it.

The sea lion show was super fun to watch, as mentioned above. On the day we visited the show was packed with people so if you would like to watch from a good position you might want to go there early. You can read their show times here .

Disappointments:

When we were on the Road Safari there were quite a bit of areas without a single animal. It was just empty grassland. Over half of the animals we encountered were far away from us. But well, these are animals, we cannot control where they go. So I guess it was just bad luck for us on the day we visited.

Easy to navigate?

It was easy to locate where things are because it’s not a big place and the map is very clearly.

In case of rain:

There’s really nothing much you can do if it’s pouring with rain. Most of the animal enclosures and all rides and playgrounds are outdoors. I remember there is a small shelter at one part of the tiger enclosure. The sea lion show is indoor but I don’t know does it open to public other than the show times.

You can also go to the restaurants or the gift shop.

How was the toilet?

Female toilets were at acceptable cleanliness.

How about the food?

We had lunch at the restaurant. It was around 12:30pm and it was super busy. Long queues waiting to order. When it was our turn to order the lady who served us just disappeared without saying anything to us. We had to ask the lady on the other till whether or not she is going to come back. Then when she finally came back she was handling the food and drinks and again did not say anything or even looked at us! We found that very rude and we had no idea whether she was going to serve us or not.

But the lady who delivered our meals to us was very nice and polite.

The food was ok. They were hot and tasty.

We were lucky and able to find a table straight away. The tables and chairs were kept at good distance but can be quite squashed with buggies. It was at reasonable cleanliness.

Any extra charges once I’m there?

Yes, the Baboon Bus and the amusement rides .

Other things you need to know before you go:

The possible damage of the monkeys in the Road Safari, as mentioned above.

Will I recommend it as a family attraction?

Based on my experience I would recommend Knowsley Safari Park as a family attraction. We all love the Road Safari experience even though we did not see too much animals at close proximity. I think it’s great for all age group. We enjoyed the talks and shows. There are also the rides and playgrounds and a sand pit for the little ones to play after visiting all the animals to end the day.

Here are some pictures of the day and descriptions.

Over half of the animals we saw were quite far away. Luckily we have zoom function in our phone camera!

These are the lions. We went pass them twice and they were lying down chilling and did not move much.

So we moved on to see other animals.

This is a wolf of some sorts. All the others laid down during the time we visited them. Occasionally we caught a glimpse of it lifting up its head for 2 seconds!

So we moved on.

These were quite close to us so we slowly stopped over and took a look at them, and some of them started crossing the road in front of us.

At first I hesitated to go into the monkey area because there were warning signs saying the possible damage by the monkeys. But then we agreed we should give it a try.

They were running on our windscreen windows and side windows and the car roof “excitedly”.

We loved the sea lion shows:

J spotted five meerkats.

We then listened a short talk about giraffes.

These Bush Dogs are super cute. I’ve seen them before in Woburn Safari Park I think and that was the first time I’ve seen them in my life. Now they have become my top favourite animal in the zoo / safari park. I like how they follow one another going round and round their enclosure, looking super busy and determined.

In the picture below a bush dog was crossing the wooden log bridge.

We were looking for the tiger in the tiger area for a very long time and could not find it. When we were just about to give up and move on to another area we saw a family pointing to a far distance and so we quickly went over to take a look, and finally got a glimpse of the back of the tiger! I did not think it was worth to take a picture because it had its back at us and it was too far away, the picture would not show much.

There are 2 very small playgrounds. One for toddler and one for older kids, as mentioned above. There is also a sandpit (free) and some amusement rides (extra charges applied).

For dinner, I booked a table in a Caribbean restaurant called Turtle Bay which is very close to our hotel. I asked for advice on non-spicy dishes and the waitress suggested me to try “Mo-Bay Chicken” which is “Chargrilled chicken breast topped with a mildly spiced, creamy sauce & served with sweet plantain. Served with either coconut rice & peas or spiced fries”. I asked the lady to serve the sauce on the side, and I chose to try coconut rice.

For me, the dish tasted very nice. The chicken breast was not too dry. I especially loved the creamy sauce, it tasted really nice and creamy. It was the first time I try sweet plantain but I did not like the taste of the sourness. It was diced in small cubes and most of them were burnt.

For J, he found the dish too spicy for him. He did not eat much.

Mr. B had “Shack Stack Burger”. I reminded the lady to put the sauce on the side as I worried it would be too spicy for him. Turned out the sauce was spicy but super tasty to me. Mr. B said the burger was nice though.

You can go to their website to see their menu .

Since J did not have much food we decided to go to Heavenly Dessert AGAIN! This time J had American Waffles with fruits, white Mr. B just had a banana with caramel milkshake as he was quite full from eating the burger.

🍕🥪☕️Meals:

Breakfast:

Mother Espresso

Address: The Tea Factory, 82 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ, England

Website: https://www.motherespresso.co.uk

Lunch:

Oasis Restaurant in Knowsley Safari Park

Address: Knowsley Safari
Prescot, L34 4AN, England

Website: https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/plan-your-visit/food-and-drink/

Dinner:

Turtle Bay Liverpool

Address: 59-61, Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DY, England