Whipsnade Animal Zoo

I have been wanting us to come to the Whipsnade Zoo for many years now. The last time we were here Eden was just under 2 and Niamh was a new baby.  I suppose the true reason we have never been back is because it is EXPENSIVE.  It is more of a mini safari park than a zoo as the animals are not kept in close confinement, but rather large areas of land.  I mentioned to our friends, the Zapicos that I would like to come out and visit them(they live North of London), and so we decided we would both save up our supermarket vouchers and use these to pay for the entrance, and set a date at the end of March.  As the weather would have it, it was sweltering hot on Thursday, but by Saturday it was cccccold.  We left bright and early and arrived there just before the gates were opening, and a few minutes later we saw our friends waiting in the queue.  I love those types of friendships where you can be out of touch for months, even a couple of years, but as soon as you meet up again it's like nothing has changed and conversation flows freely.  The Zapicos are also such a lovely, light hearted family and lots of laughter was the order of the day.

Catching up with Kevin

Our first stop was the wild boars, and they had just had their babies.

Next we spent quite a bit of time with the European brown bears.

The wolverines were just on the other side.

There were lovely views over the countryside.

And Nikki got the children running to warm up, by this time we were all really cold.

And then some fun and photos with the kids.

Not sure where Ciara and Ayla are, because I can clearly remember Ayla trying to jump with them.

I just loved all their enthusiasm and laughter.

Next we made our way to the lions.

Funny face Jude.

This game was near the cheetah enclosure.  You run from one point to the barrier and see how fast you are running, a good comparison to the cheetah's land speed.

Eden and Nathaniel running together.

A nice memory I have of the flamingoes is of Nikki just laughing when she saw the flamingoes, she said she just finds their colours so unbelievable.

And then past the lovely elephants.

We then took a train tour and got a nice view of a lot of animals.

Aren't these creatures something else, I was staggered by their size, I think I had forgotten how huge they are.  So sad that such magnificent animals are poached and slaughtered.

I really cannot remember the name of these little things, all I kept thinking was dassie.  We were told not to go behind them as they spray urine over you.

All in all a lovely day, but we were more than ready to leave by 3, we had had enough of the cold. The Zapicos on the other hand stayed on till closing time to get their money's worth ;-)