A fantastic day at Loro Park..
Hi folks, sorry it’s been so long in updating the dairy but with all this golf….!! Only kidding, I have been very busy at work, no excuse I hear you cry, he’s just like Murray!! At the weekend we celebrated Ana-Maria’s birthday, so what better thing to do than visit the award winning Loro Parc zoo? 
The parc was opened in 1972 by a German guy called Wolfgang Kiessling, but it has come a long way since its humble beginnings, they now have over 21,000 animals with a total of 570 species!! We decided to go on the “Discovery Tour” which takes you behind the scenes: first of all it takes in the Aquarium, were you get to see first hand all the water filtration systems in action where Mr Kiessling only uses green technologies to filter all the million liters of water. Next, we visited the gorilla enclosure where we even visited their bed rooms!! With all the creature comforts you could ask for, 5 star food, running pure water and the most comfy beds imaginable, it was so fascinating hearing about all the human-like habits these beautiful cousins of ours have!
Next up we went behind the scenes of the all new orca (whale) enclosure which was our favorite! This was absolutely fascinating, we went down to the staff quarters about 8m down from the viewing area and we were welcomed by an amazing site! A massive, beautiful orca had swum right up to the viewing window and was checking us out for about thirty seconds; she was absolutely one of the most amazing sights I have ever witnessed! I was speechless (first time for everything)!! All the animals at Loro Parc are so immaculately pampered and the love they receive is amazing!! The behind the tour finished and then we were free to explore the rest of the parc, so first things first, I needed a pint of the good ‘ole golden throat charmer as it was a scorching 85 degrees!! 
So 2.2 seconds later we were off to the dolphin show to check out all the unbelievable tricks these beautiful mammals get up to, back flips, front flips, 4 meter high jumps, truly jaw dropping stuff! Next up we were at the orca show; these have to seen to be believed they are huge!! Word of warning though, do not sit in the first four rows as you will get completely soaked! Another jaw dropping show. Last but not least we arrived at the sea lion show, and what a great show they put on, they really seemed to enjoy throwing the football around amongst themselves while jumping through hoops! Loro Parc goes to great lengths to look after these animals in their natural habitats as much as possible and there was not an unhappy animal in sight, they have numerous breeding and rare breeding programs going on continuously, to reintroduce endangered species back into their natural environment, especially the parrots of South America which are on the critically endangered list. All I can say is, we humans have totally messed up our dying planet big style! After all this excitement we went into Puerto de la Cruz for some much needed refreshment. We headed for the plaza (town square) and into the Columbus plaza restaurant; another pint of the local brew was followed by some great food at more than affordable prices. This restaurant specializes in its home made Italian ice creams, where locals queue around the block to sample all those tasty treats!! What ever you do get some After Eight choccy ice cream, wow! 
So that’s all for now folks, next time you are over here, ask reception about the trips to Loro Parc, its well worth the effort! On the PG front, the bottom sun deck is looking amazing, the stone we have used is beautiful and really sets it off, so come out and see for yourselves all the upgrades that are now happening around the Resort!!
So for now folks, take care and drop us a reply, speak to you again soon. Dougie
