A Day at Whipsnade Zoo

Alison's sister Anne and her daughter Emily came to visit for a couple of days last week. The main thing they wanted to do while they stayed with us, was a visit to Whipsnade Zoo. So despite the threat of early showers last Thursday, we had heard that it would brighten in the afternoon. We did pay the extra charge to take the car in, rather than parking outside, and this proved to be a good decision.

We actually spent six hours in the park and saw just about all the animals. Highlights included watching the the bears being fed, the giraffes, cheetahs, meerkats, rhino and sealions close up, and the elephant demonstration. Dissapointments were the penguins (there were hardly any there) and the tigers who were asleep.

But the best of all was when we were walking towards the lion enclosure when ahead we saw the elephants out for their afteroon stroll and ahd stopped near some trees. We were able to get really close, with very few people around.

This was not far from the lions, and the presence of the elephants brought the wild cats out of their slumber.

The weather was as predicted. We dodged the showers, the heaviest of which we missed by having lunch in the car, and after 2pm we were treated to some nice sunshine. An excellent day.