UI Zoo was our next stop on our Ibadan adventure. 

The University of Ibadan Zoological Garden was established in 1948 primarily as Menagerie to support teaching and research in the Department of Zoology. With time the animal collection grew in number and diversity and the Menagerie gradually became a full fledged Zoo in 1974. It welcomes a large number of visitors from far and near every year.
The University of Ibadan Zoo, like most modern zoos, displays wild animals primarily for the conservation of endangered species, as well as for research purposes and education, and so also for the entertainment of visitors.
The garden is home to a wide array of animals comprising mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. [Source]

First Impression: 

The attitude of the woman at the pay point was also not nice at all. My cousin made a statement that it’s how they are in Ibadan, lol.  There were vendors outside that sold snacks and drinks.

When you enter, you’d start by seeing a few animals and honestly not expect so much because you won’t really see from the entrance how big the place is but when you walk in, you’d see how many more animals they have.  The place also brought so many memories for my sister from her childhood excursions. Apparently, the state the zoo is in is like a shadow of itself from years ago.

Gate fee for university of ibadan zoo: 

500/Person 

Some of the Animals they have: 

The zoo has the most animals I’ve seen in a zoo. 

• Geese 
• Hyena 
• Lion 
• Giraffe 
• Camel 
• Jackal 
• Ostrich 
• Bob cat 
• Snaksssss - different species
• Crocodile 
• Baboon 
• Monkey - different species 
• Crocodile etc. 

What we loved about the place?

We loved that they had a lot of animals to see. The environment looked clean and all the animals were labeled with names, Yoruba names, igbo names and a little story about them. 

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the giraffe in all it’s glory. 

What we didn’t like?

The toilet wasn’t clean. I didn’t like that there was a vendor selling toys and marketing to the kids which I didn’t appreciate. It made our kids cry for things we didn’t want to buy. We didn’t like that some of the animals looked so lonely and unkempt. The Lion was also sleeping when we were there. 

Wished the place was more maintained than it is. 

Other things to note: 

Get some snacks and water for you and the kids. You will be tired after the walk around the zoo. 

Cuddly Ratings

I would give it 4/5 cuddly loves. 

Have you been to the University of Ibadan zoo before? What are your thoughts?

What we first noticed was that Agodi gardens is located around the secretariat and from the outside it looked really nice and they had music playing at the gate. There is a security guard, a pay station, signs to wear a mask, washing hand station - that wasn’t enforced. 

First impression: 

There is a food court where they sell things like rice, chicken and chips, soya, etc. 
There is also a pool and to access the pool, you have to pay differently which is also N500/person 

What we loved: 

We loved the scenery, we loved that there was a huge space for the kids to play and we swam. The pool was shallow enough for the children to play in and have confident fun in the water.

What we didn’t like: 

We noticed more people came in towards the evening when we were leaving and it gave the place a little more life, if you don’t mind the crowd, you can schedule your visit to the later part of the day so it can be a bit more lively for you. 

Cuddly loves: 

Rating it 3.5 cuddly loves. 
Will I go back, if I had the chance? Yes! 

Have you been to Agodi gardens before? What are your thoughts?

When I heard about the train from Lagos to Ibadan, I knew exactly what our next adventure was going to be. I quickly went to Google to start my research to find all the information I needed, how much I was to budget and all. 

Here was the list of potential things to do we came up with;

• Agodi Gardens 
• UI Zoo
• Topfat Gallery 
• Bowers Towers 
• IITA 
• Odu’a Museum 

Our focus was to do things that we couldn't find to do in Lagos ordinarily, things peculiar to Ibadan and outdoors, which is what guided my choice.  

We planned to spend 5 days in Ibadan Tuesday - Sunday but then we realized when we got to Ibadan that there was no train ride on Sunday which meant we had just 3 days to explore so we cut our list down to (Click to read reviews of these places) [This has changed since the train station was launched]

• Agodi Gardens  
• UI Zoo
• IITA 

Our train ride was awesome. We had an amazing/smooth trip from Lagos to Ibadan - Click to read about it here - and we stayed with my cousin for the days we were around in Akobo. 

Our Budget: 

I had a budget of 40,000 for the trip but didn’t end up spending up to that; here is a breakdown. 

Trip to Ibadan: 7,500 (Took the business class)

Cab from Train ride to Town: 4,000 

Cab to and from Agodi - 2,200 

Entrance fees of both places - 3,000 (Read review to see breakdown) 

Food/Snacks: 3,400 - I was a bit excessive 

Trip from Ibadan: 3,750 (Economy class) 

Total: 23,850 

Things that reduced my cost a bit; 

• My cousin drove us to the zoo so we saved on the cost of taxi. 
• I took the trip with my sister so we split the bills on taxi 
• Stayed with my cousin, so we didn’t pay hotel bills.

What didn’t go as planned: 

We stayed home on our last full day because we found out that you can’t just waltz into IITA, you have to be lodged there to see their facility and we were not sure the children would be able to appreciate the museum that was the alternative so we stayed home, chilled and took a walk around the neighborhood.

What I would do differently: 

• Arrange pick up from the train place in Ibadan (Moniya), it might have been cheaper than the taxis there.
• Find out more details on the places to visit before making concrete plans 

What other things do you think can be done with kids in Ibadan?