24th August 2009

Today we are going to go round the wildlife park and grounds so we got up early, walked up the road a bit and found the entrance to the park.  We bought passport tickets which were £23 for me and only £17 for Paul as he is a Senior Citizen now ha ha!  These tickets allow you access to everything except the safari tour bus which is extra.  Paul said he wouldn't take the van through the park and have Monkeys climbing all over it and pulling bits off it, we will take the bus so we can see all the animals close up.

Longleat Caravan Club site

It did rain in the morning a few times but we went into the house and looked around and then we walked back to the van and had some lunch so we didn't get soaked.  We took the bus tour in the afternoon.

It was excellent as the driver is able to stop in places you couldn't do in your car.  At one point we were so close to the lions and he opened the bus doors and asked if anyone wanted to come forward and take pictures.  It was a bit scary as you could have leaned out of the door and almost touched them.  Then we went on the boat trip round the lake.  Whilst we were waiting in the queue we could talk to the meerkats in their enclosure, they are Paul's favourite animal and they are so cute, especially the babies.

On the boat we had the sea lions chasing alongside and could see the hippos in the centre of the lake.  We slowed and stopped alongside the island where their gorilla Nico lives, and were surprised to see a television aerial on his little hut.  According to the guide he loves watching TV especially since he lost his partner last year and is now probably quite lonely.  Unfortunately he is too old and set in his ways for them to introduce a new female so he must remain on his own now.  Sad really.

Meerkats at Longleat

Nico the Gorilla

Next it was the railway trip round the whole site which was also interesting.  This is the first proper touristy thing we've done since visiting Monet's gardens in France.  We had a lovely day, well worth the money actually.

By the way, last night we did hear the lions roaring as we were going to sleep.  It must be wonderful in the wild to hear all these sounds on a real safari.