Southampton 2022 - Longleat Safari (Day 3)

Although I have never been to Longleat before today, it has always held a special place in my heart as I begin to recall some of the special memories I have with my mum. We used to sit in on the mornings, turn on Animal Park, just those morning cuddles up with my mum will always remain special to me and I wish I could have more days snuggled up on the sofa watching one of the many shows we enjoyed.

It felt like it took ages to get to Longleat from Hedge End, but that might have just been my eagerness to get there. Upon arriving to the zoo you have to hope you take the right way in. It should take you pass the impressive Longleat House which has two extraordinary statues of lions. We didn’t see them up close until later in the day, but you can see from the photos that they are quite realistic and such a wonderful addition. As we went out of peak season we had the chance to go around the safari twice, however when you book it does advise that you will have a set period when you can go around the zoo.

We were a bit bemused when we started to find the route. It is quite a drive through the estate before you reach the African Village and Walking Safari. It did make me wonder whether I could lodge in one of the many keepers’ houses. You have hit the right path if you find the bongos. Throughout the day they offer opportunities to feed the giraffes for a small fee, so we made sure that we got the chance. Giraffes are the best after all! It was an amazing opportunity to feed Mary. Nicole nearly got thrown into the park when Mary tried to strip the branch of leaves. I told her she just need to get a few muscles on her so that she isn’t taken out by a giraffe’s tongue strength next time. We then went on to see what else the walkthrough offered. It didn’t disappoint; we met the Cameroon and Somali sheep, and plenty of mischievous lemurs. They were being fed by the keeper, so we had the opportunity to see them up close and personal. We also saw the African tortoises who hadn’t quite woken up yet. It was here that we got to see the most adorable baby ostrich enjoying its breakfast. It was so small and cute; it was a good job it was locked away or it may have been coming home with us. It was in this shop that we found some amazing slate placement mats that have the engravement of a giraffe, a must have to go with our highland cow mats. On the drive through the African village, you have the opportunity to see ostriches, Grant’s zebras, black wildebeest and Rothschild giraffes up close.  

Up next you will enter Flamingo valley. There you can see masses of them! These are my niece’s favourite animal, so it would be great to take her down there one day. Unfortunately, it is just a bit too far from home at the moment. Further through the drive, you will find the vultures. We didn’t manage to get close to these as they were high on the perch. Now it was decision time, do we go through the monkeys or do we pass it! We opted to pass by and just watch the others have their cars used as the latest puzzle to destroy. I think most people were lucky, the monkeys didn’t seem that they were up to too much trouble, but we figured that it wasn’t worth the risk.

The next part of the drive through was the chance to see Nicole’s favourite animal, the elephant. Unfortunately, Anne was not out for the people to see, she was obviously not up for seeing any of the visitors today. Both times we drove past she wasn’t on show. We then drove around the Big Game Park where there were Bactrian camels, horned oryx and Ankole cattle. As usual the camels were on their own time scale and were not afraid to make people wait whilst the crossed the road! According to the website, this is where you will meet the three white rhino. When we went the rhinos were not out on the reserve, they were in their enclosure, but we still managed to get a close look at how magnificent they are.  Up next was the Deer Park. There is the opportunity to buy some deer food here if you wish to have the drooling snout of a deer in your car! Again, we opted not to do this, but did stop by the other cars that were feeding the deer. We even had a cheeky deer press her nose against the glass as if to say, “come on then, give me the food!”. You will see the red deer and Pere David’s deer in this section. Even if you don’t wish to feed the deer, it is still worth adventuring in.

Next was into the big cat territory. First up Tiger Territory. On the first journey round, we didn’t catch a good view of the tigers. They were hidden away having a good snooze making sure that they weren’t disturbed by the noisy tourists! Upon the second time round, they had obviously had enough sleep and we managed to get some close-up views of the tigers! They are one of the most magnificent creatures that looks quite cuddly, although I don’t think I would like to try and give them a hug. Onwards to the Lion Country. There was definitely a lot of lions to get up close and personal with. If I can remember correctly, there are two prides of lions that get to alternate out in the drive through. We managed to get plenty of pictures of both prides. The pride that was at the drive through had the picture-perfect location under a fallen tree. Although we went around in both the morning and the afternoon, the pride was in the same location. It is obviously true that they are one of the laziest animals. Continuing, we ended up in Cheetah Kingdom. Although one was keeping itself hidden away and as far out of sight as it could manage, the other was parading around the for all to see. It walked right past the car, so we managed to get up close and personal. It was at this point that we started to clock on to pay attention to where the rangers were. They will always be parked close by the animals. It saves you from spending so much time looking for the animals. The next section was Hyena Hideout. We were looking for them out in the open, so we didn’t find them first time which was disappointing. However, on our second journey around we managed to spot one. I think this is the first time I have seen a hyena that wasn’t on the tv. So, it was an amazing experience. The last section was the Wolf Woods. On both times round, the wolves were on a mission and would not stay still. But we did get a good view. There were cubs roaming in the woods, but unfortunately, we did not manage to get a peek.

To follow on from the safari, the foot zoo was just as amazing. The zoo as a package was amazing. I would rate this possibly the best zoo that I have experienced so far, but we have plans to go and see more so I will keep you posted. The first stop we made was to the Jungle Cruise. We wanted to make sure that we got to see the sea lions. The boat ride did not disappoint. The hippos were as lazy as the lions and were camped out near the boat’s dock. They didn’t move the whole time we were on the boats. But according to the keepers, we were lucky to see them because if they don’t want to be found then you will not find them! The boat trip takes you across the river to the Gorilla colony, we obviously arrived at the right time as they had just had the outside space filled with delicious treats. They were full of life trying to find them! On the way back, the sea lions did not disappoint, although one of the was very vocal it sounded like someone was screaming in my ear! They were full of life and during the period where they were being fed, they put on a show! Back on dry land we saw lots of animals, including the giant anteater, parrots, red panda, sloth, and giant otters.  We walked through the meerkats which was amazing to get so close. Unfortunately, there was a keeper that was keeping an eye on the little mischievous creatures, so I didn’t manage to scoop a couple of them up! We also got up close and personal with some koalas that were having a snooze on the branches.

My challenge for you all is to time yourself in the Hedge Maze. We managed to do this in and out in under 10 minutes. I have a little tip I wanted to test out in the maze, and it did work! The sign does warn you that you can spend up to 90 minutes in there if you don’t have our speed, so make sure that you go to the toilet first!

On our journey home we drove past Stonehenge. We were too late to be able to take a walk up to it, but I did get to see it from the road. After this, we headed off for another first for me: Toby Carvery. I have been converted. I will try carveries more often. The potato and leek bake was something that I wouldn’t try again, but mac and cheese on a roast is something that I may have to start requesting! The sticky toffee pudding here did not quite make the cut and I will probably opt for something different next time.