Perry's Bridge Reptile Park — Attraction in Mbombela

I assumed that this would be another run of the mill reptile park with a couple of snakes on display and that we would be out of there within an hour. I was very much mistaken. The Reptile park is an amazing experience for all ages. I was amazed at the huge variety of venomous and non-venomous snakes in the park. The snakes come from all over the world. There are also lizards, tortoises and crocodiles. Although people are generally afraid of snakes (and to be honest, some of the snakes look terrifying), the park tried to educate people regarding these cold blooded beauties. We attended 2 educational talks about venomous and non-venomous snakes. The snake handlers conduct their talks from inside the puff adder enclosure 😱. The talks were hugely educational. There is also an opportunity to interact with a ball python. Be prepared to spend at least 2 hours here if you exclude the educational talks. Call ahead to check the times of the talks. We arrived at around 14:30 and ran out of time. I personally loved...

The advertised closing time is 17h00. We arrived at app. 16h10 on Sunday 08 Sept 2019. We were allowed to access the reception area only to be told that they were closing. Our 3 year old could not understand this as we were already standing at reception. We were then subjected to a quick 3 or so minute deliberation between staff on whether to open the croc cages etc or not. This created more expectation and eventually we were informed to come backs the next day. A business decision was apparently made in consultation with the manager to close earlier as "business" had been slow for the day. They could have just closed the main entrance area so that people know already from that point that they are closed. 🤷🏿‍♂️ Costed me...

Cyclone Eloise made it impossible to get into Kruger National Park, so we needed something to do in Hazyview for the day. This was an excellent park! Kept us busy for 2 hours, even without the feeding demonstrations! Great for all ages too. The reptiles are in good condition and their enclosures are well maintained. Part of a larger shopping complex which also includes a cafe, restaurant, and very nice curio shop (among others). Strongly recommend giving this a visit if you are in the area - even just if you need a break from games drives for a few hours.

(Side note: they also brought us umbrellas when the rain picked up again, without us asking. Great customer service...