West Midlands Safari Park - Great Value Day Out (West Midland Safari and Leisure Park)

Member Name: Dan_Millard

Product:	West Midland Safari and Leisure Park
Date:	04/09/08 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do, so many different animals, good rides.

Disadvantages: Your experience depends on the mood of the animals.

Recently, thanks to my animal-mad girlfriend, I have visited a number of zoo's and safari park's including Longleat, London Zoo, Bristol Zoo and West Midlands Safari Park. All things considered, I would certainly put West Midlands on top of the list in terms of the an all round animal experience.

It was very easy to find. We had directions but didn't need them because it is very well signposted. There were a lot of 'check-ins' open, making queuing quick and easy. The prices were as follows: £10.50 adult entry and £9.50 for a child. Fairly reasonable, I thought, as we planned on spending the entire day there and a tenner for a day out isn't bad, is it?

So, as we entered the park we were greeted by a host of animals in the 'African Reserve'; zebra, rhino's, wildebeest, eland's and ankole cattle. Surprisingly not bothered by the noise of all the engines, a lot of the animals were standing in the middle of the road, meaning that you could get extremely close, creating some amazing picture opportunities.

The Eurasian, Asian and wallaby reserve featured some interesting animals, but nothing to shout about. These areas featured deer, buffalo and camels.

The signs to remind you that 'All windows and door MUST remain closed' became more common at this point so we assumed that something big must be coming up. We then entered the heavily advertised 'Cheetah Plains'. To be honest, this was the only disappointing part of the day. The posters at the entrance were huge so we were expecting something special. The enclosure was comparatively small and fenced off, meaning that the cheetahs were not free to walk between the cars, as we were to experience in the other enclosures. We counted four cheetahs. I'm sure there must have been more due to the advertising but it was difficult to see thanks to the fence and the fact that they were quite far away.

Next was the African Wild Dogs. Quite a large pack of them were sat on the hill, making some pretty good pictures. As we were leaving, they trotted down the hill together (there must have been 8 or 9 of them) and we could really appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of their coat; a mixture of black, orange and white splashed over the bodies.

We pulled in to the next waiting area, which was operated by a traffic light system. 'African Lion Reserve'. I had some good pictures just in the waiting area, as a few of them were asleep near the entrance. When we went in, a male got up from where he was laying and approached the car and we suddenly realised that one of the windows was open. So, we closed that quickly and watched as he strolled right passed out car. This was a huge enclosure and featured a lot of lions; easily one of the best enclosures I've seen. Good for both the lions and the visitors. However, it was an interesting choice putting the lions next to the African wild dogs, as they are big rivals in the wild. While we were waiting at the traffic lights, a wild dog was howling furiously at a lion he could see through the fence. The give credit to the lion, he just ignored the dog and walked away. And there was a metal fence, some bushes/brambles, etc. and another metal fence in between them so there was never any danger.

The 'Kingdom of the White Lions' was next. I had recently read in the paper that a lioness had given birth to several cubs, making this collection of the extremely rare white lion the largest on earth. The enclosure wasn't as large as the African Lions, but it did have a lot to do so the lions wouldn't get bored, including a pool. The lion cubs were certainly the most active of the lions, as they played together and even tried to get a quick snack in the form of a crow.

Then there were some deer that you are able to feed. This was an interesting and slightly scary experience, as the animal poked its head in the car, searching frantically for food. I give it a handful of bread which seemed to appease it and its head left the car to chew.

My favourite animal was next, the tigers. First was the Bengal tiger. There were quite a few in the enclosure, but unfortunately this one was not a 'drive through' and the animals were fenced off. This didn't spoil the experience for me as it was the first time I had seen a tiger that close. One of them was very close (sleeping under a tree), much closer than any of the cheetahs.

I was happy with my Bengal tiger experience but blown away by the white tigers. This was purely down to personal experience however. As we approached the enclosure, (again, fenced off) we saw a few white tigers in the distance, behind a building and a looked like they were being fed. This was a disappointment as it looked like we weren't going to see any of them. But as we got closer, we saw one white tiger at the furthest part of the enclosure. There was some movement by the 'sliding door' (where the food goes in) and the white tiger went mental. He was pouncing around his enclosure and finally sat RIGHT by the fence, literally no more than two or three feet away from the car, so close that his ears were twitching when we were calling him. At one point he actually looked directly into the car, which was amazing.

We moved onto the next section, where the elephants were. Again, another great experience. The elephant came right up to the fence (there was no big fence, just a small, foot high electrical fence) about six feet away from the car and began playing with a stick, picking it up with his trunk and dismantling it, before tossing it aside. There were three elephants, but this one was the largest and clearly the 'boss' as the other two followed sheepishly behind.

Lastly were the giraffes. They were allowed to roam freely between the cars. This caused some problems with traffic, forcing the handlers to tempt them away with slices of melon. Some people even managed to feed the giraffes through their sunroof.

We left the safari and pulled into the car park, where there were thankfully toilets available. We then entered the 'amusement area' of the park. The first thing we saw were the sea lions, which are always entertaining. There was even a sea lion show going on at the time, which was primarily aimed at children. It was impressive, nonetheless. There was a 'twilight' area whith fish and bats and other creepy crawlies (yes, spiders and snakes). Surprisingly, there were also leopards in the amusement area. They had their own enclosure, cased in glass.

The hippo lake was okay, but the hippos were underwater most of the time when we were there. It was a great environment for the hippos, however, as they had a lot of land and water to explore. I didn't go on any of the rides as they are mainly for children, but they did look like a lot of fun. There were a lot of areas where you could sit and buy food at the usual extortionate prices. The shops were very good, with a lot of selection and some really nice cuddly toys.

Overall, West Midlands Safari Park was an amazing experience and for £10 it was a bargain. But the key word in that sentence is 'experience'. Your opinion on West Midlands may differ entirely from mine if you arrive and all the animals are hiding away or sleeping. That is why it is so difficult to review an animal park. But, with the sheer amount of animals and things to do you can't fail to have a good at West Midlands Safari.

*EDIT* The park is located in Bewdley, Worcestershire. It's really well signposted just as you get off the M5. Here's the full address:

West Midland Safari and Leisure Park
Spring Grove
Bewdley
Worcestershire
DY12 1LF

Summary: The best day out that I had this summer.