Fota Wildlife Park

Go Kids:A trip to Fota Wildlife Park in east Cork last week ticked two January boxes: a great family day out, and a good walk in a beautiful setting.

Also, at this time of year it’s not as crowded as in summer, which might explain why some of the animals were so brave – a magnificent peacock followed us as we strolled around one side of the lake, a friendly kangaroo kept us company on the other.

The park is on 70 acres but the animals are up close and easy to see, with good information points about the various animals dotted around.

As some of the animals are endangered in the wild, it was fascinating to see how successful Fota has been with its various breeding programmes.

All children will have their own favourites but top of our list included the herd of bison, the agile gibbons (which live up to their names – you could spend ages looking at their antics on their high ropes), the playful lemurs, the cheetahs (much easier to see here than in Dublin Zoo), the emu and the flamingos with their amazing colour and spindly legs.

There’s also a playground for small children.

Allow three hours for your visit and, while there is a coffee shop in the park’s new entrance building and a small restaurant, bring a picnic as there are plenty of benches dotted around the park.

• fotawildlife.ie