Perfect Ten for birds; Sunshine island has superb new park and aviary

0 Comments | Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland), Jan 31, 2010

Byline: BEN SPENCER

IF you want to get close to colourful Australia birds you need to take a long-haul fl ight, right? Wrong. Just four hours in the air will take you to sunny Tenerife and one of the jewels in its crown the huge Loro Parque zoo.

Inside the park’s newest attraction, Katandra Treetops, which only opened in October, is one of the biggest and most impressive free fl ight aviaries on the planet.

In layman’s terms this means visitors can see more than 100 stunning species of birds from Australia, Asia and across the globe. What makes Katandra Treetops special is that visitors are encouraged to get close and interact with the birds while they walk through a network of hanging bridges and treetop walks set in tropical vegetation.

Many of the species are tame and visitors regularly squeal with delight as the birds land on their heads, shoulders and arms. But the highlight for me was when I was allowed to grab some seed in the palm of my hand and feed a beautiful white Ducorp’s cockatoo. The stunning feathered friend muttered to itself as it worked its way through the food before fl ying off to explore another area of the aviary.

Katandra Treetops may be the zoo’s newest exhibit but it’s just one in a long line of stunning attractions. The park is home to the world’s largest penguinarium, where 200 penguins live in their own domed ice covered world, which is topped up with more than a ton of real snow each day.

There are a series of different shows at the park with arguably the best being the sea lion display.

I watched in awe as these incredible creatures balanced balls on their noses, jumped over targets and one even briefl y pretended to be dead before jumping back into the water. There was also a surprising moment when a trainer led the largest sea lion into the crowd where it proceeded to give one stunned audience member a fi shy looking kiss. Other shows include a stunning display by dolphins and the magnifi cent Orca Ocean, which houses four spectacular killer whales from SeaWorld Florida.

These massive creatures are incredibly intelligent and it was interesting to fi nd out that the trainers never repeat the same show in a row as the whales quickly become bored. There are plenty of land based animals to visit too.

Tiger Island is home to Prince, a magnifi cent white snow tiger rescued by the park. But a favourite moment for me was visiting Villa Gorilla where seven bachelor gorillas enjoy a natural habitat.

As I looked on, one of the gorillas stood on his legs and beat his chest like Tarzan before wrestling and trading play slaps with another gorilla. Tenerife may be only four hours away but the change in the weather from Scotland is dramatic, making it a perfect winter sun destination.

Ditching my overcoat and umbrella for shorts and a T-shirt I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by paying a visit to Siam Park, Europe’s newest water park. The park, designed by Thai architects and builders, in an exotic Oriental style, offers rides for all levels of thrill-seekers.

The most sedate option is the Mai Thai River where visitors drift along in a rubber ring along crystal clear waters.

Despite being near to the sea, the park boasts its own white sandy beach, Wave Palace, which can produce 46 wave combinations. These range from gentle ripples to the biggest artifi cial waves in the world which are regularly used by local and professional surfers.

But I had come for the rides and one of the most heart pounding is the Dragon. I joined four riders in a cloverleaf fl oat as we hurtled through a dark tunnel, plummeted down and were then driven backwards and forwards on the fl ume to the brink of tipping over.

The park’s main attraction is the Tower of Power, in which visitors fall 28metres on their backs along a near-vertical slide, before hitting the bottom and being propelled in a clear fl ume through a tank fi lled with sharks.

As fun as Tenerife’s manmade parks are, no visit to the island would be complete without a trip to the Teide National Park. This breathtaking park includes Mount Teide, the third-largest volcano in the world, and offers incredible views from the top.

During my visit I stayed in the Hotel Botanico spa in Puerto de la Cruz
attractions tenerife

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