Days Out: Flamingo Land, Malton

But if you like your days out wild in every sense of the word, it’s probably worth making the trip to Flamingo Land.

The Malton attraction has enough rides to rub shoulders with some of Europe’s best parks. It’s home to Mumbo Jumbo, the steepest roller coaster in the world. With a sheer drop and a G-force of that close to a fighter jet, it’s not for the faint hearted.

After retrieving your stomach from the skies, take the weight off your feet and enjoy a sit down. Well kind of. The seat in question is aboard Kumali, which dangles your legs in mid air as you whip around the loops and bends at almost 60mph. Don’t forget to smile for the cameras. Other white knuckle rides include the dizzying Flip Flop and the newly opened Pterodactyl, which takes riders to the skies – at speed.

But what if you’re not an adrenaline junky and don’t want to join the kids on the big rides? Well the park has got you covered, with gentler experiences like the Happy Feet 4D cinema or Balloon Race with its four seat gondolas.

Or get back to nature and explore Flamingo Land’s wild animal reserves.

A great way to do this is by jumping aboard the Lost River Ride for a riverboat safari which takes you on a meandering journey where you can spot rhinos, giraffes, lions and zebra to name a few.

You can get even closer to some of the other four-legged friends in Children’s Planet where the young ones can mimic the climbing, tunnelling and balancing skills of the resident meerkat, coati and mongoose families.

If you want to see the animals from dry, above ground land, then you can take a stroll around the different areas and check out lions, camels, baboon and rhinos among loads of others.

Factfile

Flamingo land, MALTON

Address: Kirby Misperton, Malton, North Yorkshire

Opening times: 10am-4pm/6pm (dependent on seasonal conditions, see website)

Price: From £25pp

Website: www.flamingoland.co.uk

Telephone: 0871 9118000