This week´s been full of contact with nature for me. First, the Jellyfish Exposition at L´Oceanografic Valencia with its peace of the sea, and now the colorful magic of Jardin del Papagayo in Benicarlo: from all the shades of blue to all the colors of the rainbow.
Visiting Jardin del Papagayo in Benicarlo,Spain
Jardin del Papagayo was such a unique experience that it ended up making its way to
By the way, the city of Benicarlo is famous in Spain as an Artichokes region and hosts the Gastronomic week of Artichokes every year (from the end of January till the beginning of March). So you could really kill two birds with one shot here and add a gastronomic twist to your trip.
Before we start, I should really admit that I was having a hard time choosing the best pictures for this post to share with you. All the birds were simply stunning and if I am to publish it all – I should probably switch the main topic of my blog to birdlife. Nevertheless, I´ve handpicked a few of my personal favorites – hope they´ll bring up in you this little splash of colors we all need every once in a while.
About Jardin del Papagayo
To start with, it all changed for me after watching a heart-breaking documentary Earthlings (2005). As a child, I used to visit zoos with my parents and I´ve never really thought of the other side of this animal life behind the bars. Ever since I try to make more ethical choices, although with kids it gets tricky at times. You can´t always take them to a sanctuary or safari, while you still want them to get a glimpse of the animal world. So I was not entirely sure about Jardin del Papagayo at first. I mean, birds are not elephants or tigers, many of them live with humans and literally become family members. Nevertheless, I was still a bit concerned.
People chasing animals to take pictures or feed them is a sadly common thing, but can you imagine a place where animals chase tourists? – Well, this is probably the reason why El Jardin del Papagayo in the Spanish city of Benicarlo was so different from anything I´ve ever experienced. I expected to discover the diversity of birds’ world, but my plans were turned upside down.
Since my very first minute at Jardin del Papagayo I felt like the birds were having a blast. It honestly took me a while to adjust, as I was initially aiming for a bird-watching experience. I like animals, but having 10 birds on my head and shoulders from minute 1 was a bit of a shock for me. I was not ready to be the “Pigeon Lady” from Home Alone 2 (unlike my husband though).
At the entrance, we were offered to buy some pipes to feed the birds and I was like: “No, thanks! I´m just here to watch”. But after a random bird shamelessly jumped on my shoulder and gave me this “where-is-my-food” look – I went back for the pipes.
Birds that chase people
As one of the local guides explained to us: the birds of Jardin del Papagayo are all grown up with people and used to interact with staff and visitors of Jardin del Papagayo a lot. So, not only are these birds not afraid of people, they love being around humans, expect and adore their attention.

I´ve honestly never had direct contact with a parrot before, I mean I´ve seen parrots, but never played with one. Therefore I never realized these birds were so smart. From their eyes you could literally read their emotions. Some of them were making sounds to bring our attention or to express their joy or irritation with each other, while others were clearly posing for me, while I was taking pictures. Can you believe it?!


Birds with Personality: Macaws
The stars of Jardin del Papagayo were definitely the macaws. I never realized how much these birds enjoy climbing, much more than flying actually. They are known as the giants of the parrot world, having long tail feathers as well as big beaks. Their large, curved beaks are quite powerful and are designed to crack open hard nuts and seeds. But you could see in the pictures how they use it as a climbing tool. Macaws are native to the southern part of North America (Mexico), Central America, and South America. Everything about them is big and colorful, however, their personalities are surprisingly soft, friendly, and sensitive.
Blue and gold macaws in the wild are monogamous, meaning they mate for life. And they can live from 30 to 50 years. Macaws are quite playful, however, even from brief contact with them, you could notice they are very very intelligent birds. Macaws can be taught to talk and they might also be inclined to whistle or to imitate sounds and noises they hear inside and outside.


Breaking the ice and picking favorites
This blue-and-yellow macaw was particularly playful. At first, I was a bit scared, cause I saw it was clearly trying to bite me. Once the bird noticed I was afraid, it´s immediately switched to my husband and kept a distance from me: limiting our interaction to simply taking the pipes from me every once in a while.
However, with my husband the macaw was really having fun. He would just approach his hand with pipes and the bird would climb all the way up to his shoulder. After a while, I realized this macaw enjoyed making us both laugh.

With this beak, it could actually do some real harm to anyone, but instead, the bird was seating on my husbands´ shoulder all the time, playfully biting his ear, nose, or beard, which was more of a tickling thing. I haven´t laughed so hard in a long time. And yet I couldn´t believe it: the macaws immediately identified me as “the least fun of the group” and if it wouldn´t be for the pipes, they’d probably ignored me at all. On the other hand, my husband was their absolute favorite.
Even though not all of the birds were ready to sit on his shoulder (and here you´d clearly notice their different personalities) they were openly preferring his company. Food was the least important factor in their actions.




How much time do you need?
When you google the place, it shows you people typically spend 3 h inside the park. Which I thought in our case would be narrowed down to 1,5 h maximum. But guess what ?! – We´ve spent 4,5
Seeing birds is often more or less the same, but interacting with them depends on so many factors that it´s a whole new experience every time. Getting a glimpse of how the macaws reveal their mood and show off their personalities was so eye-opening for me. I will never look at any bird in the same way I used to.

This post is linked up with The Weekly Postcard and Feet Do Travel
Oh I love your photos so much!! I’m a hopeless bird fanatic and I’ve visited bird parks all over the world, but I also feel conflicted about the concept of a zoo. But this place sounds so wonderful! Sounds like you both had a great time. I must go!
Thanks, Ava! I´m sure you´d love it as these birds were adorable. Once they realize you enjoy their company – the´d be all over you 😉
I remember you mentioning you loved birds! These are all supppper beautiful birds! Would be fun to do this! Pinned! #feetdotravel
Thanks for stopping by, Lolo!
What beautiful birds! They are amazing and so colorful! Great photos!
Thank you! I also got blinded by all these colors!
This really is a special place! I would love to go and spend time with the beautiful birds. They have such character and are so fun to interact with and watch. Your pictures are lovely. Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard
Thanks, Anisa 😉
The colours of the birds are simply stunning, wonderful photographs. I love the one of the two sun conures. Beautiful! #TheWeeklyPostcard
Thank you, Jo! My favorite one as well!
Wow, what beautiful birds! I’ve seen macaws and a few of these other birds, but some I’ve never seen and they are just beautiful! It’s funny because I was just watching Rio last night (yes, I was watching a cartoon) and thinking about all the great birds they featured. How lucky you are to see all of these!
I also love watching cartoons lol Great to know there are more people like me 😀 This was something I also loved about the Rio: colors&birds.
I love how colorful they are and yes, it’s a little freaky how smart some birds can be. My cousin has an African Gray parrot – they live a super long time, too! #TheWeeklyPostcard
(PS – perhaps you could include where this place is? Which country?)
Thanks for stopping by, Leigh! added the country name 😉
Oh my goodness! Your photos are stunning and the birds are so vibrant and colourful. I love that they showed you their personalities and your husband was a bit of a fave. LOL. I’m developing a bit of a bird fascination actually which is a little strange, but I’m saving this for when I need a hit of bird action! 😉
Thanks for stopping by Shona! Previously, I was never a bird lover, but after visiting this place I´m also developing a bit of a bird fascination myself lol
I absolutely love birds and these are stunning. I imagine it was quite a thrill to be able to photograph them with such detail!
It absolutely was! Thank you, Carmen!
Such a wonderful fun adventure. The Jardin Del Papagayo is a must visit in Spain and a place I would love to go. Love the stunning photos and how the macaw was tickling your husbands ear. lol. I pinned this for later. Thanks for sharing 🙂 #feetdotravel
Thanks, Stephanie! It was such a unique experience!
I’m a big fan of birds. One of the things I love about living on and off in Australia for the past few years is I get to see some of the ones you featured here in the wild. Sometimes they hang around in packs of 50 or more
Thanks for stopping by, Barry! Would love to see those in Australia one day!
How beautiful and smart they are! Love watching them and their antics. Looks like they are well cared for and treated well which makes a big difference when I visit places like this. Thanks for all the wonderful photos you took, you should make a calendar!
Thanks Lisa! I´d probably follow you advice 😉
These birds are so beautiful! What a great experience! I’m having a rare cloudy and dreary day here in California and all these colors just brightened up my day. It’s great to know that places like these are out there to enjoy and that the birds are well cared for.
Thanks for stopping by, Mary!
How beautiful, I would love to visit and hang out with all the birds. I had a similar experience at Butterfly World in Florida. The African grey is my all-time favorite bird, I’m so glad you got to experience the birds and their beautiful souls. Lovely post.
Thanks Scarlett! Would love to visit the Butterfly World in Florida one day… must be amazing!
I love visiting zoos but definitely prefer ones where you enter their enclosures instead of stare at them through glass. Your pictures are so beautiful too!
I would love to go there with the kids. I think it would be amazing to see and interact with all those birds. They’re incredibly beautiful.
I am petrified of birds if I’m being honest but the pictures you have are soooo gorgeous! I know I could never go to a place like this or I’d have a panic attack but the birds are so beautiful I wish I could!
Oh that is so cute, I love the photos of the birds. I wish I could go to a bird park soon. Birds do really give a peaceful and calming ambiance, it would be worth it to spend our time with them.
Beautiful….beautiful! I love the green parrot! It’s so radiant. I am glad to hear you had so much fun.
These are such great pictures! Love seeing all the colorful birds.
I love all the kinds of parrots. Jardin del Papagayo seems like a great place to visit. I’m adding it to my travel bucket list.
Oh wow they are so beautiful! The pictures are just lovely. This looks like a great place to visit, thank you for sharing!
What absolutely stunning creatures. They are so colorful and sweet. I’d love to visit there too!
Birds are such a fascinating animal to observe. These are very beautiful birds!
I want to go play with them! My friend has a few of these and they are really amazing animals.
Macaws are so beautiful. All of their bold and bright colors. I would love to take my kids here and see all of the beautiful birds.