Wrocław Zoo and Afrykarium

What makes it special

The Afrykarium is laid out as a journey through Africa's waters, one habitat after another, and it is the only oceanarium anywhere given over entirely to African wildlife. Each zone pairs a stretch of water with the animals that live in it.

The tunnel runs through the Mozambique Channel zone, the shark pool, where a green sea turtle swims among the fish. Its middle section hangs in the water on a glass floor with 360-degree views.

In the East Africa zone, the hippos share their pool with fish from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika. Dik-diks and aardvarks live on the land beside them.

Two details are easy to miss. The penguins are African penguins from the south of the continent, so their enclosure is not icy, and the manatees are West Indian manatees, not an African species.

Visiting

Wrocław Zoo's Afrykarium comes first: go straight there from the main entrance and leave the outdoor zoo for later.

Walk the five zones in order. Pause at the reef, the hippos and the tunnel, then carry on to the penguins, the fur seals and the manatees. Give the manatees a few quiet minutes at the glass, not just a quick photo.

Keepers feed the hippos at 11:00 every day and call them out of the water to do it. From Monday to Thursday you watch from the underwater viewing level below; from Friday to Sunday the feed is at the upper enclosure.

Tips

Buy tickets online, and only through the zoo's own sales: it lets you skip the ticket-office queue. Fake ticket sites take payment and send nothing. The office itself takes cash and cards, except American Express.

Leave pets at home, since the rules prohibit them throughout the zoo, Afrykarium included. Eat a packed lunch at the outdoor picnic spots, not inside the Afrykarium. Photograph the tanks without flash.

Wear comfortable shoes and bring a refillable bottle, because the paths between enclosures add up to a lot of walking. Pushchairs can be rented on site, and the Afrykarium has a baby-changing room.