Walking thru this animal park is just great. The animals, iguanas, birds, monkeys and more are right out there with you. The grounds are beautifully maintained. There is a lot more to do at this park and I would really recommend it.
Our family recently visited this amazing place. The tour guides were enthusiastic & knowledgeable, & fun! Our favorite experiences included the visit with the monkeys and learning about the indigenous flora and fauna. We even decided to zip line. It was incredible! If nothing else, you must visit Gumbalina!!!
Beautiful, clean, lovely, memorable! Our guide Rudolph was knowledgeable and fun like a guide should be. We loved having capuchin monkeys sit on our heads and parrots on our shoulders! There was a lot to see and some cool history too. Rent the locker to stow your stuff - there is a lot of walking. Wear comfortable closed toe shoes for stability. Have pockets to carry your lip balm and tissues if needed. Would do this again in a minute.
Visited the park as a Carnival cruise excursion. All is well and SAFE as long as you go with the excursion guides. You take a 35 min. ride through the city to the park, and they offer lockers to put your belongings(small fee). They recommend that you put your things away, as the monkeys and birds are attracted to certain items and they like to grab them. We used the lockers, saw many iguanas strolling around, walked over the pretty long, hand-made looking suspension bridge. You visit the handler who will put the parrot on your shoulder for a photo. Then you visit the monkeys where the 4 handlers offer to put the monkey on your shoulder for a photo. It was very fun. Here's a tip! Stay with the guided tour! I read some Carnival cruise reviews about just taking a cab there. There are no cabs sitting at the park to take you home! As we drove past the downtown bank (with the 3 heavily armed guards outside the door) you should always keep your safety in mind. It is not unusual for a native of Honduras to have a pistol under the seat in the car. Stay with your tour guide and you will have a GREAT, safe time!
I went there with four people total in mid-February, 2015. Some of the reviews were troubling so I didn't know what to expect. I can now say that I have no idea why anyone would complain about this place. The admission was $35.00 or thereabouts and what a great cause. Having a monkey jump out of a tree onto your back was a little disconcerting at first but they didn't seem to have claws, it was like a live teddy bear on your shoulder. The Macaws were spectacular and we got to hold them too. Our guide was very funny ( "How big do the Iguanas get?" "Well, if you see me running just follow me.") and knew a lot. The animals were well cared for and even the Iguanas were friendly, sort of. Just go there! There is also a nice pool and decent snorkeling from their beach.
We had a great day at the park with our two kids (age 6 & 7). The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, and the grounds are amazing! Please be prepared to tip your tour guide, as they do a great job and rely on generous tips to add to their wages. You will not be disapointed!
This is definitely a must-do experience. We also had Rudolph as our guide and he was awesome. .He was very attentive, funny and very informative. As mentioned by other reviewers, make sure to wear comfortable shoes because there is quite a bit of walking involved.Don't wear open toed shoes because the terrain is very sandy! The park is very well maintained with lots of things to see. Of course, the highlights are the Capuchin monkeys and the beautiful parrots.
By using Murphy's tours we were able to get there before the bus loads of other people from the cruise ships, so we had the place to ourselves for while. Everything was great and we loved the variety - iguanas, parrots, monkeys, pirate cave, insect displays, waterfalls and paths, swimming pool, beach, etc. We stayed for 2-1/2 hrs We did not swim because we had plans to swim somewhere else later in the day, but pool looked very nice. 2 Hours would probably be long enough but I'm glad we had time to go see the monkey a second time - so much fun!!
This tour was very fun the guides were very informative an funny. The only disadvantage of the park is that it was man made which took away from the experience but nonetheless it was a good tour
The kids loved the animals, and we enjoyed it. We planned on spending the afternoon at their beach. It was not nice, it had sea grass and trash. The food/drinks are too far away.