Animal Magic!

On Saturday 18th May I went to Longleat Safari Park with Emma. Now the first thing I should say here is that I do not like the idea of animals in cages, so I was concerned by what to expect. I am pleased to report that I need not have worried, the animals at Longleat had so much space, were in really good condition and were obviously still as wild as they come. I was much impressed. As well as taking our own tour of the park in my car, we also took in an off road safari with a guide and I have to say it was money well spent. We got so close to the animals and were able to take so many pictures over those few hours, and the memories of that afternoon and the laughs we shared at the crazy animal behaviour around us will live with me forever.

I'm not going to bore you to tears with the 600 photographs I took that afternoon (yes, really, 600! I had to plug my phone into my laptop to ensure I could recharge my battery as we went) but instead just point out a few highlights in the hope it might make you want to go yourself. If you can get there, I would thoroughly recommend it!

The African Plain area

Gorgeous cheetah

There was so much monkey madness it was untrue. I mean, who knew monkey's hitch hiked and then tried to total your vehicle?

Small monkey liked my windscreen wipers!

Mummy and baby!

And after the madness of monkeys, we moved onto the majesty of the gentle giants - the giraffes. 

Only it turned out that these creatures are goofy as hell!

Doing the splits!

Smile

Being hand fed... the tongue touching me was a little gross!

What a poser!

 The lions were a creature we had been looking forward to seeing and they did not disappoint one bit!

Pose for the camera!

Daddy dearest!

Family time

Siamese lions?

 We then walked with meerkats and lemurs! I think I nearly passed out I was squealing so much!

Spying on the sky!

Wondering if the camera person was about to eat them!

Lemur!

Smile for the camera!

So close to this big beast!

Tiger crossing!

Beautiful tiger

Wolf dancing!

We headed back into our car and drove through the African plains, making friends with some animals along the way!

The African plains, the tiger homelands and the wolf kingdom. What an amazing place.

RHINO!

We spent the day at Longleat, it really wasn't long enough. I will definitely be going back again. Okay, it wasn't the South African safari Emma and I had always dreamed of, but for a UK adventure and to make one of her dreams come true? Well we couldn't have asked for more!