When you go for Tripadvisor and search for things to do in Maspalomas (Gran Canaria), Palmitos Park is on a high place.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g230095-d668916-Reviews-Palmitos_Park-Maspalomas_Gran_Canaria_Canary_Islands.html
It's a place reminding ZOO, but more like Nature Reserve.
We decided to go there in a cloudy morning, but don't believe in clouds when you go there. This place is high up in the mountains, so as soon as we got there, the heat was unbearable. I found some information that buying tickets online will save you a lot of money. I don't know how it really is, because we payed for our ticket at the entrance and we payed 46 euro (online price) for both Palmitos Park and Aqualand. You could also buy the ticket at the hotel, so no worries, you don't need to order it before.
I won't write a lot about the trip there, because it is pointless. I thought pictures might describe our trip much better!
The only thing I need to tell you, that there are shows at specific times, so you need to plan it a bit ahead in order to see all the shows. Believe me, it is worth seeing all.
What we did first was to run for the Eagle show. It was an amazing experience! Who would have thought that such wild animals would be so attached to the Palmitos Park crew.
On the way to another show, we took a looot of pictures of beautiful animals. We met a talking parrot, which spoke Spanish of course, blue tale lizard (we haven't seen it anywhere else so far), crocodiles and a lot of big lizards. They were not captured, they just love the park.
What I loved the most, was the dolphin show. It was definitely worth the money to come there and see those beautiful creatures from close. For additional payment, you were able to touch them and to take a picture with them, which you were getting at the exit. It is definitely worth it, cause you get it together with the Palmitos Park book describing all the animals in the Park. I didn't know that, so I was positively surprised. I payed for that pleasure 20 euro. I don't regret it.
Some people chose a special dolphin experience, which means that they were in the swimming pool with the dolphins and depending on the price dolphins could swim around you, jump above you or something similar to that. I love dolphins, but for me it was a bit of a waste of money. The "full experience" was short and it did't look 100-120 euro worth. The shows itself are free for everyone in the park.
There was also a "wild birds show". It was at the same mountains as the eagle show. There was a lot of parrot and other big birds, which I unfortunately don't know the name. Probably my boyfriend will know, cause he is a biologist, but hey - I study Software Development!
At the show, people were allowed to hold the parrots on their arm! I was also the lucky one! It was funny, because I didn't know that their claws are so sharp, so I got a bit of a shock, but it was definitely worth it!
Another show which we saw, was a parrot show. The parrots were soo cute! They were trained to do tricks, ride a mini bicycle, pretend tourists, doctors and much more. I didn't want to take pictures during the show, so I did when they were almost over. Unfortunately it was against the light, so you won't see much of it.
Also the view in Palmitos Park is incredible. It looked like a jungle, where all the rare animals are hiding. But remember, this is a whole day trip, so bring some food and drinks! Of course you can also buy something to eat there, but its a bit expensive in my opinion.
We finished around 16. It was almost closing time as I remember. The buses were waiting for us so it was super easy to get home. Remember also to buy return ticket when you go there. It is easy and we didn't experience any problems with it.
I will upload some more pictures from Palmitos Park, because the view is really worth it! Enjoy!
