I went along to Chester Zoo on a very windy Sunday over the bank holiday weekend, I'd been looking forward to it for weeks! I haven't been to Chester Zoo for years so I thought the new attractions were brilliant.

The tickets were just over £16 which wasn't at all bad for an entire day's admission. I think the real bonus for me was the opportunity to Gift Aid the tax money to the zoo's charity and I think most other people did the same. Good job they gave us a map too, I soon discovered there are over 11 miles of pathways with over 400 different species to see!

We started our visit with the Tsavo Black Rhino Experience and it didn't disappoint! The rhinos were absolutely beautiful, I just couldn't get over how big they were and their enclosure was really well done. Then it was on to the meerkats, which are of course, a firm favourite with everyone. Sure enough, one of them was keeping watch sat up on it's lofty perch - a handy termite mound.

Then it was on to the zebras, antelope and gemsbok and then I went past my favourite animal in the whole zoo! Surprisingly enough, this was not the lions, the otters or the jaguar, it was in fact the Visayan Warty Pig! I thought they were brilliant and unlike the name suggests, not very warty at all - they had very funny long snouts and the little ones were undeniably cute.

Moving on from the pigs. we went over the cheetah enclosure, but they didn't seem to like the strong wind and it was difficult to see them. The Fruit Bat Forest was also very good, it was very exciting to have bats flying around over your head in darkness. From the tigers we moved on to the Bears of the Cloud Forest attraction, but unfortunately the Spectacled Bears were hiding: the zoo was very busy and they are notoriously shy. On the up side, I did get a very good view of the Red Panda as it had some lunch!

After stopping for a bite to eat, we made our way over to Spirit of the Jaguar, which was absolutely packed with people. The jaguars were well worth it though and I even saw an army of leafcutter ants taking their leaves up a tree. Sometimes the smallest things can be the most impressive.

Other things I liked were the owls, the butterfly house and the Tropical Realm, where a little bird seemed to befriend us and followed me until I got out of the other side. The elephant enclosure is currently being renovated but we did see the beginnings of a very impressive looking waterfall! I'll definitely be going back soon, it is a great day out with something to keep everyone entertained.