Holiday Gems in Kobe - Animal Kingdom

During a recent visit to Osaka, Japan, we discovered some holiday gems when we took a day trip to Kobe.  Among a few holiday gems that we discovered in Kobe, this was by far the highlight of our trip.  We are not only animal lovers but nature lovers too and this Kobe attraction Animal Kingdom definitely combines the best of both worlds.

One of Japan's Holiday Gems in Kobe

Admission prices for Animal Kingdom

If you are in Osaka, you could make day trips to various areas such as Kobe, Kyoto or Nara.  They are really interesting places and we shall cover some of the holiday gems found in those areas in another post.

Let's get back to Kobe!  We were deciding between the Nunobiki Herb Garden and the Animal Kingdom.  Hubby chose the latter and we had no regrets at all except that we did not spend enough time there as we also had Mt. Rokko as part of our itinerary for the day.

Inside Animal Kingdom

Some of the animal names - very educational

Just like most zoos, though this is not really a zoo, there are many live performances where you can view the handlers with the animals.  Some even allow you to interact with the animals such as feeding of the penguins.

For ¥100, you can also purchase food to feed the animals and this can be super rewarding especially when the animals feed direct from your hands or, in the case of the toucan, perch on your arms to take the food from the little cup that you will be holding.

Feeding the capybara

Feeding the toucan

Up close with the ducks

You can see many varieties and colours of ducks, owls, birds, etc... Awesomely interesting and educational too.  A wonderful place, not only for the young kids, but for the big kids like us too.

Pelican Lagoon

Alpaca

A staff looking after the joey

Majestic camel

Mara

Capybara

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Toco Toucan

Channel Billed Toucan

Milky Eagle Owl

Big Bill

Owl

Another reason we love to discover holiday gems and this is no exception!  At the Animal Kingdom,  numerous brightly coloured flowers greet you.  Truly a wonderful sight! The lily valley also has tons of varieties of lilies that you can see and identify from the names placed next to the flowers.

Flowers

Beautiful

Lily

Lily Valley

Love the dual colour

Getting to Animal Kingdom from Osaka

What we did:-
Catch the Hankyu rapid train from Umeda to Sannomiya (approximately 30 mins)
Walk to the Port Liner station and take the Port Liner train to K Computer Mae station
Look out for direction to Animal Kingdom and you will find it located just as you get down the steps from the station building.

Port Liner stations

While traveling on the Port Liner, you can also get some great views of the Kobe port.

View from the Port Liner

Kobe Port

You can also get to Nunobiki Herb Garden from Sannomiya station, so you might want to visit both these Kobe attractions on the same day.

Colourful, beautiful flowers in Animal Kingdom Kobe... brightens up the day

Can't stop admiring the lovely plants

You can enjoy a meal in this beautiful surrounding

For ¥1500 admission fee for an adult, this is worth every cent and we will definitely want to visit the Animal Kingdom again amongst other holiday gems in Kobe.