Cheaper alternative to Jerusalem Zoo

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Israel related Inquiries & Aliyah Questions

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Success10

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 1:45 am

DDs are 3.5 and 2, older one asked to go to the zoo, but it's a large trip, and kind of pricey for kids who are still too young to really appreciate it. Anyone know of any alternatives? Petting zoo or the like?

amother

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 2:04 am

•Chavayot - animal therapy center in the Yishuv Elazar

Dont have details, sorry - this is in Gush Etzion and we went there years ago - our (then-small) kids LOVED it! It may not be open all year round ....hatzlacha Smile

RachelEve14

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 2:11 am

Just so you know, you only have to pay for 1 kid (under 3 is free). We buy a yearly pass to the zoo. Very, very worth it! Bring a picnic, enjoy the playground and it's a full day out.

sped

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 2:24 am

I assume the adults have to pay, though.

SJcookie

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 2:59 am

You can walk around & look at the thousands of cats in various neighborhoods.
Just kidding Smile

There's a petting zoo near Beit Shemesh. There's also a safari in Ramat Gan, but I'm not sure what the prices are.

DrMom

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 3:10 am

Lots of kibbutzim have a "pinat chai." If you think your kids will not appreciate the Biblical Zoo and will be satisfied with a few chickens and cute baby goats, this is a good alternative.

If you happen to be in Nes Ziona (not so close to Jerusalem...), there is a nicely landscaped free zoo/park across the street form the mall. Ostriches, goats, chickens an other fowl, ibex, and other small animals. Lots of room to run round, lots of playground equipment in excellent condition. Bring a picnic lunch and you're all set.

There is also Davida's Farm near Beit Shemesh:
http://www.kidsloveisrael.com/......html
http://ramatbeitshemesh.blogsp......html
http://israelkids.co.il/events.....48826

According to the last link (don't know if it's up to date) prices are NIS 35 for kids (I don't know from what age); NIS 10 for adults.

For reference, prices for the Tanachi Zoo in Yerushalayim:
Adults - 50 NIS
Children (3 - 18) - 40 NIS
Children below age 3 - FREE

Success10

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 5:53 am

Thanks for all the replies. I think my kids would love the zoo, but it would cost 140 shekels admission, and we wouldn't get to see the whole thing, they're small, and they get cranky fast.

It was really cute, the older one came home from gan and said she wanted to go to gan hachayot, cuz Hodaya went, and Efrat went, and Racheli went, so she wants to go. I doubt she knows what it is. So we thought to take her. Maybe I'll try to work on dh a bit more.

Otherwise, David's Farm looked really nice, she loves moonbounces.

Sanguine

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 6:14 am

Take them to a pet store - It's free. There used to be a really nice one a little Northish (not near Ym), I think it was called something Eli (maybe HaJungle Shel Eli). It was really a pet store but it was big and we used to take the kids as a stop when we went North.

Success10

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 6:23 am

That's actually an awesome idea, the pet store.

The truth is, IY"H were going up north next month for a few days, (my husband is playing in the Israel Recreational Hockey Tournament) not a cheap trip, and there's a mini zoo on kibbutz Goshrim I think, or Kfar Blum, somewhere way up there, it's not just a petting zoo, it's got tons of animals, so we plan on taking her there. Just so you know my kids aren't deprived (not that you said they were), it's just a lot to spend on a half day trip to the zoo here if we're going away next month.

sara_s

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 7:31 am

There's a pet store in Malcha mall. Also you can sometimes get 1+1 for the zoo through credit cards

Sanguine

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 7:35 am

Success10 wrote:

Just so you know my kids aren't deprived (not that you said they were), it's just a lot to spend on a half day trip to the zoo here if we're going away next month.

Well, I certainly don't think your kids are deprived (we used to go to a pet store Very Happy

). Your 3 year old's friends probably have older siblings and that's why they went to a real zoo (if they actually did -maybe they also went to a pet store).

A lot of kibbutzim have private pinot chai cause the kibbutz kids work with those animals. And then the bonus is you can also go to the Refet and see the cows!! I bet Hodaya, Efrat and Racheli didn't see cows- But it's not that easy to just come in and start looking around if you don't know someone there or instructions to act like you belong there.

I think I've seen the animals in Kfar Blum - they're near the kayaking so they're public (I think, unless I'm mixing up kayaking places)

ButterflyGarden

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 7:37 am

Davida's in Yishi is GREAT. I highly recommend it for kids of all ages. Aside from the animals there is a tractor ride, planting (you get to take home a flower), goat milking, wool spinning demonstrations, horse and pony rides and a treat all included in the price of the ticket. In the summer some of the bouncy slides are filled with water (one for boys and one for girls). There is a petting area with smaller animals and lots of tables for you to bring a picnic. My kids really love going there and my 5 year old wants to live in Yishi just to go to Davida's every day. Smile

We bought passes to the zoo and will go for a few hours several times a year. It's a nice thing to be able to do every bein hazmanim and sometime DH will take them on longer erev shabbos. Also, since we have the pass if we go for 2 hours and spend the whole time at the park, it doesn't really matter.
However, I can see how you would be reluctant if she is so so young (for the record my 2 year old LOVES the zoo, especially the lemur exhibit).

Success10

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 11:36 am

So in the end we went to Davida's. The kids were petrified of the animals at first! They sure do like looking at pictures of them Rolling Eyes

but there were tons of things to play with/ on and eventually they warmed up to the animals. There were no moonbounces, I guess those are seasonal. They are really too young for the tractor/planting/ pony ride, but they did enjoy, it was a cute outing. I always want them to grow up so fast, so I can enjoy more activities with them, but I know when they do grow up, I'll wistfully remember when they were this little.

ally

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 11:50 am

ButterflyGarden wrote:

We also had a membership to the zoo when we lived in Jerusalem and we made good use of it... The upside is because its "free", you can just go for two hours after school. I'd let the kids pick three animals and then we'd go home. We also went a lot on long Fridays (Fridays are fun because you get to feed the elephants. And you can enter a raffle for 1nis to ride the elephant but we never won;)
I think we calculated you only had to go 2-3 times during the year for it to be worth it and we went much more than that. We do have a car. Not sure it's worth the shlep without a car.

mummy-bh

Wed, Jan 22 2014, 1:35 am

ally wrote:

I think we calculated you only had to go 2-3 times during the year for it to be worth it and we went much more than that.

This depends on how big your family is, ie how many entry tickets you have to buy. For our family the price of membership is only 1.5 x the price of one visit for all of us.

DrMom

Wed, Jan 22 2014, 2:32 am

mummy-bh wrote:

This depends on how big your family is, ie how many entry tickets you have to buy. For our family the price of membership is only 1.5 x the price of one visit for all of us.

I'm confused; is membership on a family basis or an individual basis?

RachelEve14

Wed, Jan 22 2014, 2:39 am

DrMom wrote:

I'm confused; is membership on a family basis or an individual basis?

Once you add the 3rd child, they don't charge more for additional ones (for the yearly membership). So if you have a big family it can actually be cheaper to buy a yearly membership even if you go once, than to buy a single admission.

DrMom

Wed, Jan 22 2014, 2:45 am

Ah, that makes sense. Thx.

Success10

Wed, Jan 22 2014, 4:41 pm

Sorry, Dr Mom, meant to thank you for the great tip about Davida's. We enjoyed and saved money. I hope to go again one day when the kids are a bit older.

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