Friguia Park

Hotel chain Kanta has done a clever job by setting up Friguia Park in African style. Friguia means Africa. The 36-hectare zoo is large by Western European standards and provides some awesome vistas. Hangouts and platforms overlooking the animals are strategically located. Against a background of waterfalls, rocks, streams, bridges, glittering salt pans, and the Mediterranean sea, a variety of African animals is presented from the smaller ones such as meerkats and Cape hyraxes right through to elephants, tigers, and zebras.

Breeding
Together with zoo Paris and the Forestry Commision, Friguia Park also runs a co-operative breeding program for African species. This program has the goal to reintroduce animals back to the wild.

Commerce
You can take a 15-minute camel ride for a few dinar and there are donkey rides for smaller children. With the tagline, Lets go on safari! hotels and travel agencies have definitely added this zoo, restaurant and folk shows (Zulu evening) to their list of tours. The zoo has its own railway station between Bouficha and Enfidha on the route Hammamet - Sousse and is easy reach par train SNCFT.

You walk through the park on an elevated pathway to view the lions and hyenas from above. The giraffes' indoor dwelling features face-to-face viewing, and the landscape behind the elephants appears idyllic and picturesque. At the cheetah exhibit a zookeeper takes close-up pictures with our camera. It is said that staff members make money by charging to take photos or to feed the giraffes.

A group of young South Africans wearing panther print clothes, is employed to provide over-the-top entertainment with marimba and drum. The souvenir shop offers a nice assortment of African masks, made in Indonesia.