Animals in near to natural habitat. in britain (Longleat Safari Park)

Member Name: perfectangel1

Product:	Longleat Safari Park
Date:	27/06/03 (1264 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun day out, see animals close up

Disadvantages: bit long and tiring

I and I think many people will agree with me here think that the best place to view animals is in a safari park. Although its not as good as the animals being in their natural habitat its better than them being cooped up in zoos. also it provides us less fortunate folks who can't afford safari holidays to see exotic animals without the guilt of seeing them couped up in cages.

~~~ Location~~~
"Longleat Safari Park" is located in the south west of Britain. Its inbetween Bath and Sailsbury. As I can be quite dim sometimes i've forgotten what county it's in but I hope i've given you some idea where it is. Longleat house is set in 900 acres of parkland and a further 8,000 acres of forests lakes and farmland. Its quite extensive.. i suppose it needs to be for the ammount of animals they have. But they have more than just a safari park to see... i'll tell you about all the other things you can do later.

~~~History~~~
Longleat was the first stately home to open it's doors to the public and was also the first place outside Africa to open a safari park in 1966. The house was completed in 1580 and is now home to the 7th Marquis of Bath. I honestly don't know that much about the history thats why its so short. i did not go in the house itself. So I can't really mention the period furniture and things like that

~~~Safari Park~~~
There are lots of animals to see, unnatural to the British habitat. You drive through a number of fenced fields each field area contains different animals. For example in one section there would be lions, in the next there would be monkeys and so on. There are a wide range of animals to look at such as giraffes, moose, tigers, elephants, monkeys and much more. It is truly amazing driving through as you get to see these spectacular animals close up. There is no need to worry as the animals are not aggressive, as long as you keep your windows wound up. The only animal that
you have to worry about when driving through are the monkeys as they tend to jump on your car, and are well known for ripping things off cars, my car was alright but the one in front of me had its window screen wiper ripped off. You get chance to stop along the way and you can drive through the park at your own pace as there are points where you can stop without holding up the rest of the traffic.

One of the first parts you drive into is the east African reserve this is 60 acres in sizes and is home to giraffes and zebra which graze happily together.

Then it then takes you to the monkey jungle which I have told
you about before although there is a bypass available if your not too keen on them.

You are then taken to the big game park this holds animals such as rhinos and an ancient breed of cattle from Africa camels can also be seen in this section

Of you go to the dear park this is the only part of the safari ride where you can have your windows open as the deer aren?t harmful and you have the chance to buy food to feed them before you enter this section

You then drive past the pelican pond into the tiger compound this is one of the best parts day seeing these beautiful animals but its best to keep your windows closed.

After the tigers you are then taken to view the lions which are also a spectacular sight

The last part of the journey takes you into the wood filled with wolves which actually look quite cute and there have been very few recorded wolf attacks on humans. Although it is hard to see them as they like to lurk in the darkest parts of the wood

~~~Longleat house~~~
I didn't go in here as it cost a bit more than I thought was decent so I'm sorry I can' t tell you about that. Although I have heard that Lord bath shares his house with an unwelcome visitor. The grey lady frequents the house and likes surprising people

~~~Grounds and Garden~~~
Although
I am no big fan of gardens and gardening these managed to impress me. I think this is due to the shear size of this. I don't know the names of many flowers but there are a lot of them and they are lovely. This is probably because I visited at its best time in spring, there are also a lot of lovely lakes and carefully carved statues

~~~Adventure castle & blue peter maze~~~
There is an adventure castle here for the kids, as you've got to please them some way or another. It has different sections for different age groups and theres everything in there like nets bridges holes to climb through and more. The blue peter maze has since been add
ed since my visit
~~~Butterfly Garden~~~
This is a place to relax in the lovely surroundings of the tropical plants and exotic butterfly. They are so beautiful and is quite enchanting to watch them. Quite a peaceful place to take a relaxing pleasant walk

~~~Hedge maze~~~
Longleat also boasts the longest hedge maze. It covers an area of 1.8 meters. To make it more interesting they have added bridges and lookout points along the way. Be wary though it is very easy to get lost and no I never found the middle it took me hours (literally) to find the exit and by the end I had to sit down as my feet needed a well earned rest after being lost in the maze.

The attractions are open every day from 5th April to 2nd November
10am - 4pm Monday to Friday
10am- 5pm at weekends bank holidays and school holidays

Prices
A passport ticket to see all of the attractions is £16.00 adults £13.00 children
To view just the safari park OR just the house it will cost £9.00 adults £6.00 children

This was a great day out for all the family, especially as we are all animal fanatics. There were a number of facilites but the only bad thing is that there was no toilets for the public on the safari route. I would not recommend dragging very small children around as there is so
much to do it is a very long day.

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