Glen Bowman
CC BY-SA
Located a few kilometres outside of the popular resort town itself is Lagos Zoo. Whilst this is not quite on the scale of the big city zoos it manages to pack in plenty of animals among the beautiful landscaped subtropical gardens.
All in all there are around 120 species of animal at the zoo. These include a good variety of birds such as toucans, pelicans, flamingos and parrots. There are exotic species including dwarf crocodiles, which complement the pygmy hippos nicely. "Monkey Island" which, as the name suggests, is a small island on which a range of primates roam free. These include gibbons, lemurs and a host of monkeys.
Lagos Zoo should appeal across a range of ages from youngsters up. There are two playground and a petting zoo featuring small farm animals which you can feed by hand.
The zoo tries to promote some conservation values with educational displays. Visitors can also view the incubation room where baby birds are hatched and the "create room" in which baby animals are reared by hand.
Animals aside, the park is still a pleasant place to spend a day. With over 200 species of plant from around the world laid out around lakes and lawns it is a lovely spot for a picnic. In addition there is the "O Cangalho" restaurant which serves typical Portuguese food.
The zoo is open all year round, 7 days a week from 10:00am. In winter the zoo closes at 17:00 whilst in the summer it stays open until 19:00.
Ticket prices are very reasonable with a range of concessions, including family tickets.