Last year, Dave, Rio and I were left with a favourable impression of Mundomar, so we wanted to be sure and go back this year while everyone was (hopefully) healthy.
We chose to go on Monday, December 23, hoping that being a weekday, and with most people busy putting the final touches on Christmas celebrations it would not be crowded. It turned out to be the perfect day to visit. The weather was the best we had the entire trip, temps in the low 60s with bright sunny skies and no wind, and the park was nearly empty. There were just enough people to keep that trapped in an eerie horror movie feel away, but not enough to ever feel crowded or need to wait for anything.
We arrived about an hour after opening and used 10 Euro off coupons we picked up at the grocery store (note: discount coupons seem to be available in many places, I don't think there would ever be a need to pay full price). The total for three of us came to 38 Euros (Marika is not fond of animals and skipped the outing).
There are a few zoo like exhibits as you head in, including the flamingos and black swan and the meerkats (as shown below).
We arrived in time for the sea lion feeding. We expected to watch the trainers feed the sea lions. Instead, the trainers gave a talk (in both Spanish and English) about sea lions and then gave people the option to pay to feed them a snack. It was only 1 euro for a tray of six fish to feed them, so Rio and I split one and Dave took photos.
Yuck! Fish!
After that, we spiraled a down around the bend to where the other sea lions were about to perform and took a seat for the sea lion show. I do really like how they space the shows at this park. They make it very easy to see everything with enough time not to rush in between but not a lot of downtime either, and without having to crisscross around to fit it all in.
The sea lion show was cute and had a holiday theme (but different than last year's).
The park's photographers were taking candid photos of the audiences during the show and I ended up buying one at park close; it can be really hard to get a close up if Rio smiling these days; he prefers not to show off his braces!
Next we headed to the central, indoor, theatre that is attached to the counter service restaurant. It is designed to make it easy to pick up your food and eat at the tables while you watch. Rio, also known as the bottomless pit, was "starving" and thrilled to get some food. The offerings are decent and reasonably priced for the venue. Three meals, two large sodas and a liter of sangria came out to about 25 euro.
There are two shows in the theatre (at least there are in winter). Over lunch we watched the one show in the park which does not involve animals. It was a Christmas variety show with an arial act, dancers, clowns, a particularly good magician and singers; all tied together through the story of two children receiving the gift of music for Christmas. It was pretty well done and quite an enjoyable way to spend lunch. We were all shocked when one of the sea lion trainers was signing in the show; he had a lovely tenor voice. That was just something we were not expecting.
After lunch, we decided to head to the back of the park to see one of the two dolphin shows, the dolphins are the stars of the park and we wanted the option to return and watch it again later. We had time to stop, spend another euro, and feed some penguins on our way:
Wow, yes, this show is a so well done and was, once again, a whole lot of fun. It lasts about 20 minutes and had a fun holiday theme (and those great views overlooking the mountains behind the park).
After that highlight, we headed back to the central indoor theatre to watch the bird show. Rio was happy to go back for a snack; teen boys, they are always hungry! He also was chosen to have a large parrot land on his arm. Unfortunately I did not get the photo, a toddler ran past me trying to get to the parrot and knocked me out of the way , but here's Rio getting ready to let a bird perch on him:
The show had a cute little theme about Santa losing his glasses and having everyone looking for them when they were really in his pocket all along. The birds fly out and overhead "looking for the lost glasses" and it worked well. I really love how well they use both English and Spanish in a way that allows everyone to understand but is not overly repetitive.
At that point, we had seen all of the shows. We decided we DID want to see the dolphins again, so we took our time checking out the various other exhibits and the views because we had about an hour before that show started.
We also stopped by the Sun Coursers cage at the time labeled as "photos" OMG, you walk in the cage, they pour bird seed in your hands and you get swarmed! If I look rather disheveled in the photo below, it is probably because moments earlier there had also been two birds in my hair and a couple on my shoulders, and all of those little bird toes are scratchy! It was kind of fun and kind of freaky all rolled into one (you will notice Rio dropped the bird seeds and moved AWAY from the chaos before a photo could be made).
The second dolphin show was just as good, and different dolphins and trainers were doing the bigger tricks that time around, so everyone had a chance to shine and to rest. We were happy to see the dolphins jumping and playing in the pool on their own between shows as well.
All in all it was a very pleasant visit to Mundomar and we were very glad we went back this year.
--Hadley
#mundomar
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