A ROARING DAY OUT! (West Midland Safari and Leisure Park)

Member Name: CoupeQueen

Product:	West Midland Safari and Leisure Park
Date:	05/11/07 (588 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun for all ages.

Disadvantages: None, unless you live a long way from the park.

I am a huge animal lover – I’m especially fond of cats, big and small. During the summer holidays my eldest niece came to stay, she’s 12 and also an animal lover. Well, me and my boyfriend were thinking of places where we could go for a day out and we decided that West Midlands Safari Park would be a great idea – we’d been there before and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves so we thought ‘why not?’

So, immediately I had a look on their website which is full of excellent information about the park. This made me even more excited than I already was! The website is www.wmsp.co.uk
We set off early-ish. Well, we planned to set off early – but if you’ve ever had to get a 12 year old out of bed at 7am you’d know it’s pretty difficult! So eventually we set off at around 8.30am. It took us around 2 hours to get there. When we approached the park I felt the excitement rising up inside, and my niece in the back of the car was also getting quite excited!

On entering the park we queued up in one of several lines of traffic. You then pay to enter the park which is £9.50 per person, under 4’s go free. You can also buy a park guide here which cost £3.99 and some animal food which cost £2.75. You then have a choice to either go on the safari straight away or go into the park, we decided as it was so busy, to go to the park first and then go onto the safari later before going home.


THE PARK
We parked in the free car park, then toileted. Then we made our way to the entrance. Firstly, you go through the Treetops Pavilion, which is undercover, you will find Food places such as Port Livingstone Pizza and Lost City Fun Foods here, aswell as the African Trading Gift shop and Congo Candy Shop.

Once you go through the Pavilion you go onto the ‘Discovery Trail’ part of the park.
Here you’ll find the ‘SeaQuarium’ which is an exhibit full of topical and freshwater fish from the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Amazon River.

You can also find the ‘Creepy Crawlies exhibit here. I am arachnaphobic so I was a bit wary of entering this particular building. Once I plucked up enough courage I was pleasantly surprised, there were many interesting creatures in here. Cockroaches, stick insects, a scorpion, leaf carrying ants and of course spiders including a rather large tarantula!

Next is the ‘Twilight Cave’, I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I walked into here. We had to walk through a curtain of plastic sheeting and a curtain of metal chains before entering. It was very dark inside. I was quite wary as two teenagers were attempting to go in before us but seemed a little frightened and let us go in first. As soon as we got inside, something flew past my face, I realised it was a bat! It was full of two types of bat including the ‘Seba’s Bat’ and the ‘Rodrigues Fruit Bat’ which has a wingspan of around three foot – I’m glad I didn’t know that before I entered the Twilight Cave! Also in this cave were ‘Jumping Rats’ and ‘The Aye Aye’, which is some sort of rare primate.

Also in this part of the park is the ‘Sea Lion Theatre’, A show is on between 2 and 3 times a day, depending on the time of year. It demonstrates the sea lions skills. Unfortunately, we missed the show as it was full up and had no room for us to go in. But I did see it the last time I was here and it was fantastic. Well worth the 15 minutes it is on for. But I would recommend getting there early to be sure of getting a seat.

Next is ‘Mark O’Shea’s Reptile House’, if you have a phobia of snakes I’d stay out of here. In the house you’ll come across numerous snakes such as rattlesnakes, boas, pythons, vipers and the longest and most venomous – The King Cobra! The reptile House is also home to lizards, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises and the most poisonous dart frogs and tree frogs. All reptiles are kept behind glass windows so there is no chance of being confronted with anything – thank goodness!

Then we went to the bit I was looking forward to – ‘Leopard Valley!’ I was a bit upset at this point because the Leopard was nowhere to be seen. For some reason, unbeknown to me, the leopard hadn’t been let out into the viewing area. I did manage to catch glimpses of it behind the caged doorways but that wasn’t enough for me. But my boyfriend cheered me up by reminding me that we still had the safari to go on!

In this part of the Park you can also find a Climbing Wall, Refreshments Kiosk, Jungle Bazaar Gift Shop – with a big selection of gifts, toilets, cash point and The Explorers Café where we had some fish and chips which were very nice but a little expensive for what you got at £5.99 not including a drink.
Next, we went on to part of the park my niece was looking forward to – the ‘Amusements Area’.
There are a number of different rides here for all ages. You can either pay for each ride or you can buy a wrist band for £9.50, this entitles you to go on all rides as many times as you like. I must admit that the kid inside me came out and I did go on quite a few of the bigger rides. First up was the Black Fly. This has the same sort of idea as a pirate ship but it’s in a circle and you spin as you rock back and forth, this did make me feel a little queasy! Next up was the new ride for 2007 – Venom, this ride was a lot scarier than I was expecting. My boyfriend chickened out of this one but me and my niece went on it. We sat next to each other but were unable to see each other, it took us slowly up to a height of 30m, at this point my niece was a little scared so I held her hand. As it reached the top it held us there for a few seconds and then just dropped us down in a flash. You had to be over 1.4m to go on this one but I wouldn’t recommend it if you are easily frightened. We then went on the Rhino Rollercoaster which was fun and then onto the Twister Coaster which twisted and spun quite sharply. Of course we couldn’t miss out the water rides, ‘Wild River Rafting’ and ‘Zambezi Water Splash’, both of these rides made us nice and wet, luckily we had a bit of sunshine to help dry us off. We also went on the ‘Pirate Ship’, ‘Jungle Cat Dodgems’, ‘Dr Umboto’s Catacombs’ – a sort of ghost train, and ‘The Tarantula’ – you sit in pairs on this ride and it takes you up and spins you around. There are many more rides in the park but also plenty of time to go on them as they are all in close proximity. Also new for 2007 is the ‘Cub’s Kingdom’, this part of the park is especially for the younger visitors, we did enjoy one part of this section – you are able to go into the goat enclosure and feed the goats.

Not far from the Cub’s Kingdom are the Hippo Lakes, here you can see the Hippos either swimming in the lake or lazing around in the mud. When we went to visit the hippos they were all sleeping in the mud, I did try to call them to wake them up but to no avail. They didn’t want to co-operate! We actually took a second trip to see them, hoping that this time they’d be awake, but, alas, they weren’t! Oh well, it was the big cats I really wanted to see, so from here at around 3.30pm we set off to go onto the safari, we could have stayed longer in the park but I was desperate by now to see some cats!


THE SAFARI
Now I was getting excited. We walked back to our car, visited the toilets on route, and then made our way to the safari entrance. The safari is 4 miles long and is supposed to take approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. I had a feeling it might take us a bit longer!!

I can’t remember the exact animal route but will try my best.
First of all we came across some Giraffes, Buffalo, Zebras and some Deer. We were able to feed the Deer and they came right up to the car and even tried to put their faces in through the window. We just put some of the special food that we bought at the entrance into our hands, kept our hands flat and the animals just at the food out of our hands – quite an experience! The Giraffes were amazing, so tall, they look so strange that it felt as though they should have been prehistoric or something.

Next we saw the Wallaby’s, they were pretty shy and didn’t come very near the car.
The North American Wolves were next, we had to go through an area with two sets of big gates, this is all to do with safety, so the other animals can’t get past. We were also told to keep all windows, doors and sunroofs closed in this area! The Wolves were sitting in a pack when we drove through, next thing we knew they all got up and started howling! It was exactly like you see in films such as ‘Dances with Wolves’, quite an amazing experience!

Can’t quite remember what came next, but it could have been the White Tigers, now was I excited or what? There was one sitting quite proudly on top of a shelter made from logs. We weren’t allowed to open windows in this area, understandably. All I can say is WOW! How grand were these animals? They were pure white with black stripes and had blue eyes. They were absolutely beautiful. I was mesmerised and spent quite a lot of time in this area of the reserve. The normal orange and black tigers were not far away, these cats look so handsome.

Moving on we came across some Ankole Cattle, Eland, Antelope and Gnu, these animals were all very interesting and the guide book can tell you a lot about them to help you understand each animal as you come across it.

Not long after we saw some African Wild Dogs, these are sort of multicoloured dogs that I thought looked a bit like hyenas. The weather was quite warm and they spent their time lazing in the sun.

The next part of the safari we saw some Lions. I was fascinated. It was quite a large pride with the head of the pride sitting quite a way from the road. But the Lionesses were quite happy to walk around the cars and sit quite close to the roadside, they looked as though they were showing off. Well, then you had the cubs, as playful as kittens. I could have sat and watched these younguns playing for hours. They were attacking each other as well as Mum who would gently push them away with her giant paws.

Unfortunately, we had to move on. There was plenty more to see. And was I surprised to come across the White Lions. Now these were adorable, they had cubs also. I have never seen a White Lion before and they were magnificent! These cubs were also very playful, well, my heart melted and silly as I am, I asked my boyfriend if we could have one!! Once again, I didn’t want to leave the White Lion enclosure!

Eventually we had to move on and we then met some more buffalo like animals, gazelle and some more deer. We once again fed the deer and tried to feed the gazelle who were very shy.
Next came the Camels, they looked extremely proud animals until one obviously had an itch on his hump, it was extremely funny, he kept on swinging his head back to knock his hump in the hope that his itch would go. I don’t think it helped as he moved on to a wooden food holding device and continued to rub his hump on this.

We moved on to the elephants next, beautiful animals. Unfortunately, they weren’t very close to us and it was quite hard to take in the size of these huge creatures.

Not far from the end of the safari now. Our day was coming to an end, we had another quick look at some zebras and more deer like animals. That was it! But I did have my camera and plenty of memories of a fabulous day out!

LOCATION
West Midlands Safari Park is located in Worcestershire. The address is
West Midlands Safari Park,
Spring Grove,
Bewdley,
Worcestershire,
DY12 1LF

Directions from Birmingham
Take the main Hagley Road to the Quinton Expressway A456 through Hagley and Blakedown following Safari Park signs through Kidderminster to Bewdley.
Directions from Wolverhampton
Take the A449 to Kidderminster. Take the A456 to Bewdley.

Directions from the North
Take the M6 South, leave on exit 8 and join the M5. Take the M5 to exit 3 and follow the A456 through Kidderminster to Bewdley.
Directions from the South
Take the M5 North, leave on exit 6 and follow the A449 to Kidderminster. Take the A456 to Bewdley.

There is a great link on the safari park website (www.wmsp.co.uk) to plan your route via ‘Google Maps’. This is really easy to use, all you need to do is click on the link, the type in your address and it will work out the route for you. It shows written directions as well as a map showing the route, You can then either print it out or copy down the directions.

The park is open from February until October, but is also open for a bonfire night bonanza and in December for a Santa Safari. (www.santasafari.com)

OTHER SERVICES
There are dog kennels available as dogs are not allowed inside the park. The price of the kennels is a £5.00 refundable deposit.
Baby changing facilities are available.

A first aid centre is located between the Discovery Trail and the Amusement Area. This area is also used as the missing persons point.

Cash points are available in the park - in the Amusement Arcade and the Discovery Trail.

Wheelchairs are available for a cost of £5.00 and a drivers licence or car keys are needed as a returnable deposit.

I would highly recommend a day out at The West Midlands Safari Park. It was a great day out for all the family, all ages! I would also recommend a look at the website www.wmsp.co.uk

Summary: A fantastic day full of fun for the whole family.