Longleat Safari Park

Will and I have been busy the past couple of weeks going on some traveling trips and continuing with wedding preparations.  Last week we drove up to Bristol for the day, had some great sushi and a round of crazy golf, and camped in Bradford on Avon (just outside of Bath) before heading to the world-famous Longleat Safari Park, the biggest Safari Park in Britain.

I'd never been to a safari park before, but this place was amazing.  Cars are allowed to drive through herds of giraffes, rhinos, camels, etc., you get to feed animals through your car window, hope the monkeys don't rip off your antenna or mirrors, and at the end you finish up with lions, tigers, and wolves just a stone's throw away.  Pretty cool, I must admit. The fun didn't end there though, oh no.

The safari park was actually only about half of the Longleat experience.  We headed back towards the Longleat mansion (which Will says has been featured on many British television shows) and were able to view even more animals in their Jungle Kingdom (I saw an anteater, they have amazing tails!)  I got attacked by a swarm of tropical birds after purchasing a food cup for them.  Maybe mine tasted better than Will's??  I couldn't get them off when I tried to leave and ended up gently shoving them off my arms.

After walking through the Secret Garden we took a boat cruise around a lake where we fed seals, watched hippos, and saw one of the oldest gorillas in captivity; he had his own private island and cable TV, not a bad way to retire.

Will witnessed first hand how bad my sense of direction is when we made a friendly competition going into a huge maze and I ended up at the final destination 15 minutes after he did.  We toured the mansion with all its beautiful rooms, furniture, and decorations, and finally headed back home to Exmouth.  It was a great trip, would definitely recommend visiting the park and I'm sure we'll be back again some time.