Ardastra gardens, zoo & conservation center

The most powerful force in conservation is education. We educate 55,000 individuals annually, of which 10,000 are local school children.

Ardastra Gardens is the only zoo in the Bahamas! It offers a unique, hands-on opportunity for students and teachers to meet endangered species from around the world and most importantly, Bahamian species.

Index
WHO IS ELEGIBLE FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PACKAGE?
BOOKINGS, TIMES, COST AND RELEVANT INFO
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE?
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Who is elegible for the educational package?

The educational package is designed for school children of all ages. The package is also extended to church groups, children's organizations and

International students, as long as the visit is for educational purposes.

Return to Index.

Bookings, times cost and relevant info

All participating groups must book in advance, otherwise regular prices will apply. Bookings can be made by calling the front gate personnel at (242)323-5806. All international organisations must email a request to visit.

Bookings should be made at least 2 weeks in advance to ensure availablity. To make the most educational impact, we allow 100 students in one time period.

Please allow at least 2 hours for the educational visit. (groups that are late or have to leave early may lose out on some of the activities)

Times daily:

10:00am to 12:00pm

1:00pm to 3:00pm

Prices for National students:

$2.50 per student (this applies to all ages except for college students which pay $4.00 per student)

$5.50 per supervisor

Ardastra recommends a ratio of at least one supervisor to every ten students (1:10). For every ten students one supervisor gets in free.

Return to Index.

What is included in the package?

The package is a total of 2 hours long.

Students will first be given an 15 minute introductory talk and will be briefed with the rules.

The students will then be guided by their supervisors around the zoo. The tour is self-guided and can easily be followed by a map and number system. All exhibits are labeled with information, including endangered species/threatened species signage.

Ardastra does not provide guided tours of any kind. Please do bear in mind that Ardastra receives 10,000 students annually and to keep the prices fair for all we insist that the supervisors take the students on the tour using the zoo as an outdoor classroom.

The tour includes the flamingo show.

During the last 15 minutes any one of the Ardastra educational animals are brought out for a closer look and discussion of their physiology, adaptations, natural history and conservation. If a specific animal is requested please phone Ardastra and ask to speak to the educational officer.

Return to Index.

Educational resources

To help teachers prepare for their educational visit, Ardastra has many on-line resources. Teachers can also pickup some of the info packets at Ardastra Gardens for $2.00 per packet (to cover printing costs). Ardastra is continuously updating its online resources, so it is worth your while to regularly check here for new information and activity sheets.

Click on the links below for some of the resources available (links are in red) :

Reference guide with map

Click here to view a map of the animal exhibits.

Learning in the living classroom (pdf format) - a reference guide for educational visits with basic animal information and a map of the zoo, highlighting the animal exhibits and the animals in them.

Need Adobe acrobat?

Information on the different kingdoms of life