22/02/2020
Casela Nature Park Overview - Zoo & Experiential Park!
Almost everyone who comes to Mauritius at one point or another hears about Casela Nature Park, 'the zoo where you can walk with lions'. So yes, Casela is essentially a zoo, and yes, the 34 lions are the highlight of the park, and walking with the lions is one of Mauritius' most sought after attractions - but Casela is much, much, much more than that...
Let me start by saying that we have been to the Casla twice before. So when they invited me for a tour agents visit, at first I thought about giving up, thinking that I already know the park ... so good I did it eventually, because it was such an amazing day!
First of all - it's one of the most well-maintained sites I've seen here. Everything is so clean, and well maintained. The park has plenty of staff members and every activity has more than enough staff guides. Safety level is very high, with all the adrenaline-pumping activities in the park - safety is not neglected for a moment. It is important!
The park is divided into 4 main areas:
The Bird Park and Petting Farm Complex - included in the regular entrance ticket. Includes huge bird and parrot compound, including giant bats originating here on the island, Llamas, monkeys, iguanas, horses and more. There is a children's play zone with a children's zipline, a petting farm, as well as a down-the-hill "roller coaster" -the `Tulawaka Gold Coaster`, a dry tubing slide with an air mattress jump (hard to explain you need to see it ..), and a 4-dimensional cinema, all included in the entrance ticket.
The African safari - antelopes, Zebras, rhinos (seperated in their own yard), ostriches and more. You can go through the safari complex in a safari vehicle (included in the regular entrance ticket) or explore the safari on an ATV, Segway or electric bicycle tour. The motorized vehicles tour is with an extra charge - but you will have a much better experience: you get to see the animals up close and sometimes they come to the vehicles out of curiosity. The motorized vehicles tour requires closed shoes; you can lend plastic shoes on site, but it is best to come with your own shoes. Also there is an elevated stage area for petting and feeding giraffes and ostriches.
The 'Predator Kingdom' complex - the highlight of the park. The complex has 34 lions including 5 rare white lions, tigers (including white tigers), cheetahs, and a large variety of other big cats. It's nice and interesting to walk around the enclosures as part of the park visit, but the top experience is entering the lion cage for petting and photos with the lions, and the top of the top - an hour's walk alongside the released lions in the compound.
Here comes the familiar question - are the lions drugged? From what they say in the park - absolutely not, and they don't look like that either. So how comes they are so calm and relaxed? First of all, 25 of the 34 lions in the park were born in the park and raised by humans since birth. In addition, because the park has 34 lions, it allows the park staff to choose the most calm lions for the interactions with visitors. The lions are well-fed 3 times a week - and hence, most of the time they are just sleepy. It should be noted that the safety precaution is very high - we entered as a group of 10 into the lion cage, accompanied by 8 park staff members. All entrants are equipped with sticks - not for smuggling the lions but simply because the lions are accustomed since they were cubs that the people with the sticks are their caretakers - so when a visitor comes in with a stick they see him as a familiar figure. The team says the Lions tend to be emotionally attached, unlike the Tigers, for example, and will not attack anyone they recognize as a caretaker. That's why you go into the enclosure with the sticks - to resemble the staff members.
For those who are afraid to meet lions face-to-face (nevertheless, a large, strong animal weighing close to 300 kg), you can do a protected safari vehicle guided tour in the lions and tigers compound. It is a very experiential tour, integrated with explanations from the staff who raised the lions from birth and know to tell about each lion his personal life story.
Thrill Mountain - a ziplines and Extreme Experiences complex: a variety of ziplines ranging from 150 to 400 m, with a spectacular view of the sea and over streams, waterfalls and more. It's important to come in closed shoes, I arrived in sandals so I could only do the giant swing over the canyon - and it was a big WOW! Kind of a bungee jump over the canyon, it was great! There is also a Nepalese bridge over the river channel, and for the extreme lovers you can embark on a day of challenging hiking on the Via Ferata which includes climbing, ziplines, rope ladders and more. Here, too, the safety precautions are very impressive - my activity was accompanied by 3 of the park's staff members. The entrance to the Thrill Mountain complex can also be separately from the entrance to the park (you can come solely to the extreme complex).
In addition, the park offers several restaurantsfood outlets and one restaurant -The Blue Bird Bistro is the main restaurant serving à la carte and buffet in the center of the park, the Ring of Fire BBQ restaurant at the Thrill Mountain complex, while other food outlets across the park serve mostly burgers, baguettes, hot dogs,salads, ice cream, etc.
To sum up, I have been to Cassela twice with my kids, and we really enjoyed it. But on this visit, I found out that Casela is - CASELA. And it's so much more than a zoo!!!
Last emphasize - the activities in Casela are booked by the hour, which means that it is essential to book in advance for activities such as ATV / Segway / electric bicycles, for the Thrill Mountain activities of ziplines / Canyon swing / Nepalese bridge, and of course for the special activities in the lion complex. On our previous visit, we wanted to make the closed safari vehicle tour in the lion's complex (Big Catss drive thru), and unfortunately there was no place available for that since we didn't book for it in advance.
So how do I book tickets for Casela?
Through us! +230-54843783 (on Phone/WhatsApp)
[email protected]
We also offer special promotional packages with special discounts for You our dear clients!
