Longleat - where you can hear the lions & sea lions roar whilst laying in bed …
Despite sleeping in the car park for late arrivals we slept extremely well and woke up feeling excited for our next couple of days (Han is so comfy and cosy I love it!). So after the boring checking in and finding our pitch, we set up the van and got settled in doing what is our usual morning routine now with the pups - you know feeding them, walking them, being their pooper scooper etc etc. Fun fact - they are now so in sync with living in such close quarters together they poop either at exactly the same time as each other, or within 30 secs!! 🐶 💩
The camp site is right next to the Longleat Safari Park - and I mean literally a few steps away! We could hear some very strange noises in the distance - which we would find out the next day were the sea lions getting rather excited every time a boat trip was taken across the lake and the tour guide would throw fish to them.
What is also great about this place is they have a bike park in its grounds called Wind Hill. As we cycled over there Wednesday afternoon I thought we had taken a wrong turning as it took so long to find, plus there was a lot of uphill pedalling - I thought by the time we get there I wouldn’t have any energy to ride the trails!! What was cool is alongside part of the road you could see across the way some of the animals in the park. Before we knew it we were amongst the trees and in the bike park. Some great down hill trails - I managed to get air on a few of the rollers (I would like to say intentionally but …), Tubbs however was nailing it. Down side is no uphill lifts so a mix of riding up and pushing the bike - trying to catch our breath. Beautiful setting though with numerous squirrels running around which meant one of us shouting “squirrel!” every now and again (if you have seen the film Up! you’ll get the reference and humour!).
Thursday was our safari park day so after sorting the pups and settling them in the van for a snooze, we walked over to the park to explore for a couple of hours. For those that don’t know, Longleat Estate is over 900 acres, the Augustinian priory dates back to the 16th century and we are told is ‘one of the best examples of Elizabethan architecture’, it’s simply a stunning home to the Lord and Marquess of Bath.
The Estate has beautifully kept gardens and wow what an amazing house! Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside due to Covid restrictions and also because the family were in residence, but we understand it’s just as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside as well as home to a massive art collection. It reminded me of something out of Alice in Wonderland, especially the Love Labyrinth with it’s heart shaped arches and fountain in the middle. We took a boat ride around the lake and were very lucky to see the gorillas being quite active and foraging for food around their enclosure. At one point I had to do a double take as there was a large silver back gorilla sat on the grass staring across at the boat - I then realised it wasn’t Tubbs as he was sat next to me 😂
In the afternoon we drove the van round to the main safari entrance. Unfortunately Peaches & Wicket were not invited as they would be lion fodder, so we had to leave them in the park’s kennels. So you might think we’re mad taking our lovely new home into a drive through safari park - well I thought Tubbs had lost his marbles when he agreed to do it, so here is our story …
Drove through the gates, all fine so far, saw some giraffes, zebra and ostriches. Not interested in the vehicles as they pass at all. Next is the monkey enclosure - you can imagine my surprise when Tubbs turned left to go through the gate rather than taking the bypass road. Within 2 seconds of driving in 3 monkeys charged over and with no hesitation were up on the wing mirror and swung up onto the roof rack. I was killing myself laughing as Tubbs chuckled nervously and was looking pale as the rest of the troop started to move. We could see them up on the roof in the wing mirror and they were having a lovely ride. They then jumped off and another ran across the bonnet and sat in front of me. What happened next you could not make up - the VW Golf in front of us had 3 monkeys on his roof and the one closest to us decided to squat and have a poo - he left a lovely curler on the spoiler of this guy’s car. Later we pulled up alongside them and I wound down my window to let him know the monkey had left him a present 🙊🤣
I have never really been a fan of zoos as it greatly upsets me to see animals cooped up in small cages and enclosures, away from their natural habitat - so wasn’t too sure what we would find here. I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased to see the larger animals having lots of space roaming around the large grounds. A lot are now on the endangered list and the park are doing their bit to help with the conservation and protection of the many gorgeous animals they care for.
Next stop bonnie Scotland 🏴
Lots of love T&TA xx
