Guadalajara Zoo – One Hour from Ajijic, Lake Chapala
Zoologico Guadalajara (Guadalajara Zoo) is widely considered the most important in Latin America. It is the largest in Mexico with respect to species population.
Their address is: Calle Paseo del Zoologico #600, Huentilan, El Alto 44390, Guadalajara, Jalisco and on their website: www.zooguadalajara.com.mx they give you directions.
They opened in 1988. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays and are open Wednesday – Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The phone # is 01 333 674 4488.
The number of species the zoo houses is 360.
Admittance for Adults ois $70.00 pesos for adults and $42.00 pesos for children.
Packages are available and also outlined on the web site and we selectd the Diamond Package for $240.00 for adults and $165.00 for children. We did this for 2 reasons. One it gets you into everything including the Sky Zoo ride, the Masai Mara Safari ride and the Train ride and two you bypass all the lines which is a huge plus.
The Sky Zoo gives an aerial view of many of the animals but the Masai Mara Safari ride is fantastic. You see the animals up close and personal as if you were on real African Safari and we had giraffes eating carrots and lettuce out of our hands. This was a truly amazing experience and for all of us the highlight of the entire day.
We started with the much anticipated Penquin exhibit and it did not disappoint. We also enjoyed the Aquarium and Monkeyland.
There is a lot of walking to see everything which is why the Train ride, Sky Zoo ride and Masai Mara Safari are the way to go.
There is also a very nice outdoor restaurant where you can get quite a decent lunch and, of course, there are all manner of treat stands throughout.
There are, of course, the mandatory gift shops at the exit of every exhibit.
We saw lions, tiger, bears, rhinos, hippos, monkeys, sharks, penquins, deer, elephants, crocodiles, giraffes, ocelots, lemurs and also many other species you can think of.
On the way out we visited the penquins again and enjoyed them even more the second time.
There is plenty of parking and wheel chairs are available. Believe me you do not need to be of advanced years to want the wheelchair as the facility is huge but very well laid out for the animals.
We all had a wonderful day and would recommend it to anyone particularly if you have children or grandchildren.