Longleat Adventure and Safari Park

After all of my traveling, we had some much needed family time. We heard from several people the Longleat was a must see so we loaded up in the car and made the 90 minute drive out there. Holy cow, they were so right. It was incredible. So many things for the kids to do.

The first thing we did was the drive through safari. I remember doing one of these as a kid and feeding the giraffes from the car window. Longleat is very similar. We have yet to make the stop at the beginning to feed the giraffes but will one day. After the giraffes and zebras, you get to the monkey enclosure. The monkeys love to climb on the cars and can remove anything that isn't screwed down. We've seen them take off the windshield wipers and weather stripping off the cars in front of us. Thankfully, our car didn't sustain any damage. After the monkeys, you go through the big game park which has ostriches, rhinos, and two-hump backed camels! The next section has a variety of deer species that you can stop and feed. Along the way, they also have vultures, flamingos, an elephant, and pelicans. Next up are the big cat enclosures. Believe it or not, they let you drive through these huge enclosures where the cats are hanging out in the grass not far from your car. There is a tiger enclosure, two lion enclosures and a timberwolf enclosure. I'll have to post a photo of the warning signs they have to make sure people stay in their cars.

Besides the safari park, there are so many other activities. We ended up upgrading our day tickets to a year membership because there was just too much to see and do that we couldn't fit it in a day. That first day we did the Adventure Castle, fed the deer and did Postman Pat's village. The older boys had a great time running around in the castle. There were tons of things to climb and explore. The little boys enjoyed seeing all the Postman Pat characters while the older two were playing. One of the great things is that everything is included in the price of your ticket so you don't have to tell the kids no because something costs extra. The only thing you have to pay for is food but they let you bring in your own if you want to picnic.

We decided to call it a day after lunch and those activities since it was a long drive home. We came back the next weekend and did several more activities. We did the jungle cruise which was super cool. There are sea lions in the lake that like to swim alongside the boats. They take you out to the gorilla island and to see the hippos!! On the way back to the docks, you can buy food and feed the sea lions. During this trip we also did the mini zoo. They have all sorts of animals including red pandas and giant anteaters. We also went to the monkey temple where they have several other monkey species including the cute little monkeys that were in the movie Rio. Since it's free we also hit the Adventure Castle for a bit before heading home.

We went a third time for Jonah's birthday. We did the safari again, the Adventure Castle and took the train ride that time. We still have to explore Longleat House (residence of Lord Bath), stop at the African village to feed the giraffes, and find out way through the hedge maze. Thank goodness for our year passes as I'm sure there will be many more trips in the future.