Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington World of Adventures Resort, near the city of London, was originally opened in 1931 as Chessington Zoo. A theme park was later developed alongside the zoo and opened in 1987 as one of Britain’s first amusement parks. Today, the zoo is home to more than 1,000 different animals, with several different areas, including Trail of the Kings, Amazu, and the Wanyama village. There is also a SeaLife centre to be found here. The resort currently has two on-site hotels: the Safari Hotel, opened in 2007, and the Azteca Hotel, opened in 2014, as well as an Explorer Glamping experience.

I visited with my family in 2010, when I was just 9. We had come to England to stay at a friend’s house in Dorset, and visited Chessington World of Adventures on the last full day of our English trip. I remember, before we went on our trip here, I watched an advert for the theme park on TV. I enjoyed seeing many of the animals at the zoo, inlcuding the gorillas, Asian lions and Sumatran tigers in Trail of the Kings; the sea lions; short-clawed otters; monkeys and capybara, among other species. I also remember visiting the SeaLife centre and seeing the fishes. I have a vague memory of seeing a fossa (a large carnivorous mammal from Madagascar) in the Trail of the Kings area, most likely the first time I ever saw this species. I also remember us going on one of the water rides, near the end of which I nearly lost my sunhat, which was thankfully caught by my sister, and we were all soaked as an end result.

Since our visit, there have been a number of changes to the zoo, most notably the addition of the Zufari jeep ride into an African-style reserve with giraffes, white rhinoceroses and other animals. There’s also the replacement of the Sumatran tigers with Amur tigers, and their relocation to a new Land of the Tiger area.