Inspecting a freezer full of giraffe poo is not your average holiday experience but it proves a surprisingly memorable and informative one — giraffe poo can reveal everything from whether the animals are pregnant to whether they have parasites.
This is part of a VIP package at Chester Zoo, north of Chester and south of Liverpool, where 51 plush new lodges have opened for overnight guests. I’m staying in one opposite the giraffe paddock — where northern giraffes and zebras mingle just as they do in Kenya’s Samburu region — with my eight-year-old son Zac, 11-year-old daughter May and husband Ed.
There are 15 lodges like ours overlooking the paddock. The remaining 36 are around a lake surrounded by native British plants and wildflowers. All have pared-back decor and balconies from which to take in the views.
Most of the lodges have views of the lake
The lodges sleep up to six and in the top-end Giraffe VIP lodges and some of the Look-Out lodges you can find the ultimate post-zoo treat: a rolltop copper bath on the balcony.
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You may worry about whether it’s ethical to spend the night among animals in captivity but you can be assured that Chester is one of the good guys, and here’s why: in 2024 it spent £26.5 million on conservation, supporting more than 80 projects in 30 countries. That’s 42 per cent of the total revenue of £63.1 million and more than the zoo’s annual wage bill. So by paying to stay here you’re contributing to the protection of wildlife and habitat.
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A giraffe wake-up
And it’s pretty special — especially for children. A giraffe wake-up is also part of the package we’re on and involves watching the giraffe’s night-time antics on CCTV with the rangers Erin Roberts and Poppy Lees. During this Roberts explains that keepers particularly look out for REM sleep — when giraffes wrap their neck around their body. “Like a snake,” Zac says.
The family lodges can sleep up four adults and two children
After learning how to identify each giraffe through its distinctive markings, it’s time to feed them breakfast. The children stuff clear plastic pots and watch with glee as the giraffes slurp away with long black tongues. We also hold up willow branches for them to remove the tasty leaves. One of the giraffes, Dagmar, drools all down my arm.
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Out-of-hours access
During our Saturday stay there are about 14,000 zoo visitors so it’s a major perk to have early access to the Heart of Africa section (an hour before the public) and to explore it on a walking safari with the ranger Ewan Grainger after closing time. With a couple of other families from the lodges we see animals that can be elusive, including snoozing African wild dogs.
Cathy with her children at Chester Zoo
At the end of the day rangers run campfire stories around a fire pit on the terrace of the reserve’s Amboseli restaurant (which is only for guests). The energetic ranger Fraser Montgomerie fully captures the children’s attention by talking about the origins of the Masai Olympics and recreating modified challenges for them. The kids also loved quizzing Montgomerie on everything from how many teeth a giraffe has (32) to the largest bat in the world (the giant golden-crowned flying fox, with a wingspan of about 5ft).
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But it’s not the trip highlight — that’s spotting the new snow leopard cub, which we see sticking its nose out of a cave and being swiftly pulled back inside by its protective mother. That and the giraffe poo, of course.
Cathy Toogood was a guest of the Reserve, which has a two-night Savannah VIP package staying in a Giraffe VIP Lodge from £2,165, including entrance to the Heart of Africa before the zoo is open, a two-day visitor pass, campfire stories, a Heart of Africa safari, giraffe keeper kitchen experience, giraffe wake-up experience, a conservation in action experience, breakfast each morning and a three-course meal (chesterzoo.org)
