All schools in our country will be soon on vacation. This is an occasion of joy for children and a headache for parents, since their beloved children will be at home for a whole week and they should be kept busy with something. Our set of ideas on how fun and useful to spend vacation as a family will be sent to your aid.
Farming, local production is becoming more popular with every passing year. In this set, we will introduce you to unusual farms on the territory of Ukraine, where you can not only walk, but also book an excursion and taste their domestic production.
Donkey farm “Osloff”
Location: Velikie Dmitrievichi village, Kiev region
An entrepreneur from Kiev, Vladimir Vasiliev, together with his wife Svetlana, created the only donkey farm in Ukraine near Kiev. It all started when the entrepreneur’s wife read an article on the benefits of donkey milk. It is most appropriate for infant feeding and is widely used in cosmetics as well.
There are 30 female donkeys and 1 donkey at the Osloff farm. At the farm, you can taste unusual milk, ride your kids on a donkey, feed them, and even order a photo session and excursion. The couple plans to open their own cheese dairy.
Rope park “Vedmezha lazanka”
Location: Lviv region, Skole district, with. Volosyanka, Tsotsora tract
Vedmezha lazanka is the largest extreme rope park. It is located among the immense mountain slopes, far from dust, noise and bustle. This rope park offers varying difficulty routes. The smallest climbers have not been forgotten as well; a baby level is provided for them. The most difficult route is 10 meters high it consists of 22 stages. The park is waiting for newcomers and offers the guiding of instructors service (at an additional cost). After passing the route, you will receive a certificate and diploma.
In addition to the rope park, there is also: medieval entertainment, cycling, various activities for children, vats and spa. It is also possible to stay overnight: there is a hotel on the territory: with different types of rooms and unusual locations.
Eco park “Medvino”
Location/Where: the village of Medvin, Kiev region
It is much more interesting to observe animals that are as close as possible to natural conditions, so you should definitely visit the huge eco – park in Medvino, which occupies 3000 hectares. There are many interesting animals in this area: buffalo, spotted deer, bison, kula, llamas, red deer, fallow deer, Przewalski’s horses, camels and many others.
In some places you can contact animals and feed them, iron them. Sheep, buffalo, ponies, donkeys, deer can come to you.
Admission for adults will cost 250 UAH, children – 150 UAH, and up to 5 years old free.
The main pride here is the reindeer, the number of which now is about 500, but soon it may become 1000. In this regard, the management plans to make a reindeer farm.
Come here and enjoy a safari-style vacation.
Goat farm “Babiny Kozy”
Location/Where: Kiev region, Galayki village, st. Central 2-b.
The smell of freshly cut grass, the sound of bells, a curious “meeeee” –are just parts of what you will see and hear on this farm. You can also try to milk the goat yourself, give it a tasty apple or bread, while children will be delighted with these cute and inquisitive animals.
The founders of this eco farm are the couple Anna and Alexander Babina, who since 2007 have decided to breed goats of Zeeland breed, and at the same time to introduce their visitors and clients to such delicious and useful products as cheese (hard and soft varieties) milk and soap.
For a better immersion in this amazing world, you should order an excursion, which ends with a tasting of cheese with tea or wine. Such pleasure will cost 200 UAH for adults, 100 UAH for schoolchildren, and free for preschoolers. It is also possible to organize a special excursion for schoolchildren.
This farm is also a great place for various events: conferences, birthdays, photo sessions.
It is worth to come here on some weekend and you will definitely want to come back here again.
The deer farm the village of Iza
Location/Where: Iza village, Zakarpattia region.
Just 50 km from the village of Kolochava, you will find a unique and the only spot deer farm in Ukraine. It was founded back in Soviet times (1987) with the purpose of extracting from the antlers of deer a very useful drug- pantestin, which helps in the treatment of heart diseases, neuroses, and overwork.
After the collapse of the USSR, the farm began to decline, and the number of animals due to poor care declined sharply from 300 to about 150 units. The animals themselves were brought here from the Primorsky Krai by helicopter. In 2003, Mikhail Bugash took over a reindeer farm and slowly began to rebuild it, making a big bet on recreation and a tourist destination.
The enrtance for adults will cost 30 UAH, for children is 20 UAH, you can also buy fodder for 5 UAH. Deer love bread and apples; you can take it from home and feed these proud animals, because this is the only way to contact them. They do not like to be caressed or touched by the horns, and in case of a bad mood, they can even kick strongly with their front legs.
Walking through this area (about 60 hectares) will bring unforgettable emotions, as there are also a forest and several lakes. Of course, it is better to come here in spring or summer about at 8 am or 7 pm, because deer’s mating games start at this time. Moreover, during summer months offspring appeared.
Equestrian club “Solomakhino Rancho”
Where: Kiev region, Litvinovka village
In the Litvinovka village, Kiev region, there is an incredibly beautiful equestrian club with beautiful and well-groomed horses of such breeds: Novoalexandrinsky heavy wehicle, Ukrainian Supreme, Torian, Latvian Harness, trotters, Apaluza. Children can feel like riders by riding ponies or just socialize with them and feed them with their favorite delicacies.
Do not worry if you are riding a horse for the first time, you will be supported by an instructor who will guide your horse and tell you how to approach the animal properly. Even if you are an experienced rider, it will be still interesting for you to ride in the company of an instructor, because he will show you all the most beautiful and inspiring places for walking.
Children can also spend time with dogs, in the park there are many and different breeds – sheepdog, alabai, rottweiler, greyhound, labrador, pincher, mongrels. They are very friendly and nice.
After an exciting trip in nature, you can have a picnic; there are special places for this.
While visiting this wonderful park, you will get a charge of positivity and energy after contact with animals. Here you can relax not only with your body, but also with your soul.
Brown Bear Rehabilitation Center
Location/Where: Zakarpattia region, Senevir village
It seems, who can offend such a formidable and big beast … but it turns out there are such people, and this center was created to help the animals suffered from mistreatment, to support the population of brown bears (there are only 300 individuals left in Ukraine).
In 2011, with the support of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the implementation of this rehabilitation project was launched on an area of 12 hectares.
Each of the 19 “students” has their own name and a sad history of being here. Some individuals were taken from circuses (I think everyone already knows what dressing methods are sometimes used there), others from “private collections”, where bears were in unrealistic living conditions, some “bears” were brought the Center.
After some time, with a proper care and food, these beauties have recovered in the fresh Carpathian air, now they gladly play with toys, swim in lakes, sleep in artificial dens and enjoy freedom.
For a certain fee: adults – 21 UAH, 6 UAH – children, you can visit this center and admire these huge, but cute animals.
Eco-park “Valley of wolves”
Location/Where:Zakarpattia region, Sinevirskaya Polyana village
If you want to get as close to wildlife as possible, you should visit this eco – park. It was founded only a few years ago, but already has many species of wild animals. Initially, the goal was to rehabilitate and maintain the number animals, because wolves in our Carpathians are not as numerous as those in our neighboring ones, but over time, people began to bring different animals for recovery.
Here you can see 4 rocks of “gray”: Carpathian gray, steppe, black Canadian and white polar. Since species of animal is not very friendly, you can play with ponies, donkeys, alpacas and roe deers.
The “highlight” of the park are tigers and lions. They love the owner very much and behave like kittens with him. Recently, the owner Yuri Tyukh brought a Carpathian lynx here.
At the entrance to the park, the owner set up a fish farm with rainbow trout, which loves cold mountain water.
Yuri can talk for hours about his observations of the wolf behavior. It turns out, unlike dogs; they do not eat bones, only meat from them. If you give food to the male and female: the male will let to eat the cubs first, and then he will eat what remains, the female will do it the opposite.
Come here after the Brown Bear Rehabilitation Center and enjoy close contact with wildlife.
Come with the whole family to nature, introduce your kids to such unusual farms and eco parks, and we guarantee you will be completely delighted.
Author: Svetlana Sinko