After one of the busiest Christmas seasons in recent memory, the park is starting to calm down now as half the country has gone back to work and kids get ready to go back to school. By the end of next week, things at the park will be back to normal and the hard work begins to prepare the park for the Easter influx. There i a lot of work to be done - much of which could not be done during December due to the large crowds. Some of this work includes high-pressure cleaning of pathways, re-laying of some paths, trimming large tree branches, cleaning off roofs of aviaries, construction work on some existing aviaries, pruning of shrubs, re-working garden beds, emptying, scrubbing, patching and then re-filling the main dam. The main dam feeds our waterfall which is always a major attraction. We clean this dam twice a year and it takes about 4 days from the time we start draining it to the point we can put the birds and fish back in. If you look carefully you will see shoals of tilapia fish swimming in the dam. We regularly add more fish to the dam as the herons, hamerkop, cormorants and giant kingfishers all love the free food. The fish help to clear the water and since adding the fish, we have definitely noticed an improvement in the water.
December also saw a number of new babies added to the collection - some taking us completely by surprise! Among the new additions are Perfect Lorikeets (2), Spotted Dikkop (2), Common Peafowl (4), Giant Wood Rail (1), Guira Cuckoo (2), Laughing Kookaburra (3), Nicobar Pigeon (1), Moluccan Cockatoo (1), Scarlet Ibis (3), Superb Starling (5) and Yellow-bibbed Lory (2).
January 1st also saw us increasing our entry fees for the first time since March 2009. The increases are not massive - only R 6 added to Adult entry fees and R 2 added to Children Pensioners and Groups. This also means that the cost of our Memberships has also gone up slightly but is still very affordable, and a great way to support the park. The new entry fees are as follows - R 36 for Adults and R 17 for Children, Pensioners and Groups. By far the most affordable attraction Durban has to offer.
