G’Day Mate! This is my review of Kentucky Down Under located in Horse Cave, Kentucky. From my past blog posts you can gather my family loves animal encounters and experiences. Instead of a gift from the Easter Bunny, my son received a trip to this extraordinary zoo on Easter Day. The weather could not have been better and the experience was exceptional. Not only are there rare animals to view, but you can pet and feed most of them. In addition, there is a cave to explore on property. This is a dream park for kids and adults alike!

Where is Kentucky Down Under?

Kentucky Down Under is located in Horse Cave, Kentucky approximately 90 minutes outside downtown Louisville. The zoo is right off Highway 65 so it very easy to get to. If you plan to stay overnight in Horse Cave, there is a Holiday Inn Express approximately 3 minutes from Kentucky Down Under. It was recently remodeled. The room was nice and they provide a complimentary breakfast.

I will recommended two restaurants in Horse Cave:

• We had a delicious, affordable lunch at a hole in the wall cafe called Five Broke Girls. The owners are huge Dallas Cowboys fans so this was a hit with my husband. This is home cooking at its best! The portions are large.
• We had dinner at Turtlelini’s Pizza and Pasta. They had a very tasty pizza and pasta buffet that was delicious and extremely economical.

There was a cafe that served hot dogs, hamburger, chips, fries, sodas, etc within Kentucky Down Under. The food was pretty good and not overly expensive.

Unique Kentucky Zoo

Kentucky Down Under is a zoo like none we have ever visited because they have a large variety of animals that you can not only view but many you can pet and/or feed. There were Australian animals such as kangaroos and a kookaburra bird, but they also had a three toed Sloth, Belgium horses, goats, llamas, and a camel.

The park is spread out over 75 acres. You can rent a golf cart to explore the property or walk the paved trails with the help of a map.

We first met and petted Molasses, the three-toed sloth. It was on Easter day and Molasses was lazily playing with plastic Easter eggs.

As you walked along the trail, you saw different fox and dingos. There were a variety of birds, parrots, and an owl in cages. The most unique bird we saw was a Kookaburra.

There was the Land of Lorries. These small, multi-colored birds are beautiful to watch. You can enter the area as part of your admission, however you could purchase a liquid cup of food to feed the birds. The cost was $1. They would rush you as you walked into the enclosure. Their small tongues covered in hair will slurp the liquid from the cup.

There were goats and belgium horses. You could pet them as they anxiously waited at the fence. Again, for $1 you could purchase food.

A Belgium horse named Mammoth had free reign of the park. You could walk right up to him and pet him as he nibbled on the grass. Can you believe the size of him?

Throughout the day there were animals shows to include a sheep dog demonstration and an introduction to reptiles to include a few snakes and a Caiman. A Caiman is a reptile similar to an alligator, but smaller. The Caiman lives in Central and South America.

We met a 10 month old Camel named Calvin. He gave you kisses. I asked him to take a selfie with me. Who knew he would know exactly what I wanted?

The Outback

I think our favorite portion of the zoo was the Outback. In this fenced in area, you can roam with kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. You are given instructions to not approach the wallabies because they are blind and will be spooked. In addition, do not pet the kangaroo on the top of the head in order to avoid making them feel as if you are a threat to them. There were several mothers and babies and we were warned to allow them to come to us if they wished food. Again, you could purchase cups of food for $1.

The Kangaroos

I think all of us were astonished at how large kangaroos can get. Wow! Just wow! I would recommend if you arrive at Kentucky Down Under in the morning to go to the Outback as early as possible. We did this and the kangaroos were hungry. When we revisited later in the afternoon, they were all full and did not really want anything to do with us.

The kangaroos were very gentle when eating from your hand. They would hold onto your hand or arm with their little hands. It was precious!

We were lucky enough to see a momma and baby. We got to see the baby suckling the mom and climbing into her pouch. The baby did eat from us with momma standing closely by.

Mammoth Onyx Cave

In addition to seeing the animals, you can tour the Mammoth Onyx Cave on property. You choose a time for your tour when you check in for the day. There is a tour guide that takes you on the tour and gives you a history of the cave. The tour takes less than 30 minutes, but it was fascinating.

We were able to see stalagmites and stalactites within the cave.

How to save money

In my past blog post, Five Easy Ways to Save Money to Travel, I have detailed ways to save money on travel. Pricing to get into Kentucky Down Under is $26 for adults and $16 for children. Children 3 and under are free. If you are a first responder, member of the military, college student, or a CDL license holder, the admission is $20.

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Here are my recommendations on how to save money on admission:

• Step 1: Sign up for Rakuten (formally Ebates) . If you have not already signed up, you will receive $10 cash back just for signing up. Any future purchases online from hotel accommodations, to your daily Amazon purchases, to this Groupon for Kentucky Down Under, will give you cash back in your pocket.
• Step 2: After you have signed up for Rakuten, search for Groupon as one of the stores. This will open a browser through Rakuten to log into Groupon. If you do not have a Groupon account, I recommend doing it as you can find awesome travel and attraction deals. There is a money saving Groupon for Kentucky Down Under. As of July 8th, 2019 when I am writing this post, you will get an additional 6% cash back from Rakuten for your purchase on Groupon.
• Step 3: In addition, many times Groupon is running deals for a percentage off a Groupon deal. Make sure to check your notifications before purchasing the Groupon.

By using a Groupon, you will receive admission to Kentucky Down Under for two people for $32, the admission for one person is $19, and admission for four people is $59. Using this Groupon, my family of three saved $20 which we used to purchase food for the animals and lunch.

In summary…

If you want a G’Day exploring animals from the outback of Australia, I highly recommend Kentucky Down Under. This was a very unique and extremely affordable zoo located only about 90 minutes from downtown Louisville. Make a trip to see Horse Cave, or take a detour if traveling to Louisville to visit Kentucky Down Under. You will not be disappointed!

What are your thoughts? Have you visited Kentucky Down Under? What did you think? Leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you!

Disclosure:   I did not receive any compensation or a reduced fare from Kentucky Down Under for this review. I paid the same price on Groupon as you will should you decide to go. The opinions presented in this review are honest and real.