We foolishly braved the Easter crowds to visit Longleat Safari Park on a Saturday. Yes, we went to an English Safari Park, very different from the real thing! It was the first drive-through safari park set up in 1966
We were prepared to put our patient faces on as we knew it would be busy, but we soon realised the enormity of our mistake when we got stuck in a two-lane traffic jam in the deer paddock for OVER AN HOUR. It is not a good idea to give people deer food & then let them park on BOTH sides of the road. Unfortunately we didn't realise that we didn't have to enter the paddock until we saw the car behind us shoot past. Bugger.
After finally freeing ourselves of the dreaded bambi, we jumped aboard a boat for a river cruise to look at the gorilla stuck on a little island (apparently he likes TV) & a couple of hippos deciding to slide down a mud-shute into the river. Unfortunately the boat driver had no patience and would not wait the 5 minutes it would take for the hippo to slide into the river, despite telling us that it was the best siting they had had in almost a year! Of course, by the time we got back the hippos were both in the water & all we could see was their ears. This is why tourists struggle to get good sitings in real safari parks...no patience!
We then visited the butterfly house which was nice and WARM (despite the sunny conditions it was still pretty chilly) before taking a quick tour of the Longleat Manor (no photos allowed). The Marquess of Bath looks like a hippie, which is a nice change from the usual stuck-up upper class mansion owner. We ran out of time to visit the Maze, but the great thing about the ticket is that you have up to a year to visit all the attractions in the park. So one day we will have to tackle the maze...
