If there’s a guaranteed way of getting me up early, it’s surely the promise of a creature. Yesterday’s advice was that if we arrive right on ticket office opening, we have a chance of snaffling two of the very limited Safari bus tickets held behind the counter at guest services in the centre of the park. I’m absolutely determined to get those tickets.
Needless to say, we’re at the back gate, bright eyed and bushy tailed, well before opening – the ticket office isn’t even manned yet. Himself wants to wait but…the gate *is* open. I fix him with a steely glare. ‘Let’s go’, says I. We’re almost at guest services unchallenged when a ticket lady enroute to her booth spots us. ‘We’re not open’ says she, determined to herd us back from whence we came. Now this is a different lady to yesterday and I seize my chance. ‘We were told to come before opening and go straight to guest services for safari tickets’ says I, holding ground with my best smile and somewhat of a fib. ‘We have entrance tickets’ I add. This is true, Himself managed those on line last night. She must have sensed my desperation. ‘Don’t tell anyone’ says she. I don’t need telling twice. Off like a shot! Wouldn’t you know it ….guest services is open, ages before time and two hot little bus tickets are quickly in Himself’s hand. We’re on the afternoon safari! Score!!! Yay!!! I skip away in sheer delight, literally jumping for joy much to Himself’s amusement.
Meanwhile, having cleared both ticket booth and guest services before opening, we’re treated to a rare glimpse of the grounds without crowds. It really is extraordinary what’s achievable if you stride confidently and look like you belong. Left to our own devices, we lap Longleat’s Elizabethan manor house, built in the 1500s – wow,
tour the secret garden,
and the formal gardens,
all the while keeping a sharp eye for access to the river boat Jungle Cruise. I’m certainly not missing out on meeting my sea lion buddy who’s been crooning from afar.
It’s not long before we’re on the water. We see a bachelor group of silver back lowland gorillas enjoying peaceful water views, black & white colobus monkeys, Californian sea lions and a mother and son hippopotamus pair. The lake is a natural feature and absolutely enormous – I’ve not seen a better zoo water habitat anywhere.
It’s the sea lions turn this morning – a harem of five girls and one bossy boy have the lake all to themselves. And they’re loving it. Once the boat is spotted, they fly to our side, leaping in and out of the water with extraordinary speed and agility. It’s a well practiced routine – they know the boat comes with fishy treats!
Meanwhile the hippos look patiently on behind their gate – you can just make out two sets of little hippo ears on the right below, at the front barrier. I doubt the boats are allowed on the lake when it’s hippo o’clock, but once the seals are away they do get the lake to themselves.
Himself is looking rather relaxed in his fancy new hat. Happy I suspect, that Italy is for once, very far from mind.
Post water adventures we visit the Bat Cave where tiny European bats swoop free under the cover of dusky light. Their echo location is spot on – they zoom all around without ever making contact. I can make out pretty faces and bright eyes but they’re too far fast to photograph. There’s a sloth pair too, one of whom is exhibiting a rare show of movement.
Afterwards, Himself is keen to ride the miniature train, where we’re treated to a second viewing of the lake, sea lions hot on the heels of the next river boat.
We’re amazed to discover that Longleat houses over 500 creatures across 130 species. Like virtually all modern zoos, they’re extensively involved in international breeding programs. Great care has been taken to keep animals in family and social groups – it’s abundantly clear that the keepers know them well and love them.
As we wander the grounds, we see an historical display of Longleat’s bygone era – photographs, farm equipment, coaches and rooms set up as if their occupants only recently took their leave. A tiny coach is on display, designed for a dog to carry toddlers. Can you imagine their delight?
In the Animal Adventure section, we see meerkats, giant tortoise, koala, hyrax, red panda, tiny monkeys, vultures, parrots and porcupines, crocodiles, ant eaters, and most tantanisingly, there’s a giant otter enclosure. It’s empty at the moment but I’ve earmarked it for a return visit. Giant otters!!! Truly rare creatures. It’s estimated that fewer than 80 are in captivity and sadly they are on the very endangered list in the Amazon wild.
The Tiny Titans display delivers tarantula, bird eating spiders, every type of stick insect and praying mantis, dung beetles, giant hissing cockroaches and many other fabulously crawly things. I get to hold a tarantula – he’s surprisingly gentle and rather heavy. I learn that he’s 23, now well beyond his expected lifespan of 20 years. I held a tarantula!!!!!
A quick stop for lunch (spoilt for choice with 10 eating options on site) takes us very neatly to the afternoon Safari bus. With instructions to keep windows firmly closed and not leave the bus under any circumstances, we take a long and informative drive past African painted dogs, lemurs, Nubian giraffe, ostrich, Grant’s zebra, yesterday’s mentioned cheeky monkeys, a lovely retirement enclosure for elephant Anne, a series of lion prides, Amur tigers galore, cheatah, beautiful species of deer, antelope and wildebeest, white rhinos, a wolf pack with 8 pups, hyena and double humped Bactrian camels. Now there’s a really odd looking creature. Their humps are fat stores and when resources are low the humps flop over. The eagle eyed amongst you might have spotted the panda eyes on the rhino – not an injury – the keepers have applied fly repellent to keep flies off their eyes.
The keeper on our bus is incredibly knowledgeable, naming each creature, detailing their family groups and breeding programs. Highlights include watching the monkeys target their favourite red and blue cars, sitting on side mirrors, windscreens and roofs to equal delight and consternation, seeing a tiger emerge from the water shaking a massive paw as delicately as a house cat, the wolf pups leaping through long grass, frisking about in the afternoon sun and giraffe lining up to be hand fed green branches, a welcome relief from thier crisp paddocks. The Safari takes over two hours to complete. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
It’s probably best we didn’t take a vehicle in – I’m not entirely sure that my self-control would have extended to keeping my window closed. I’m so pleased and relieved to see that, like the water enclosure, the African animal enclosures are enormous. It’s clear how much time, effort and money has been spent on giving Longleat’s charges their best possible environment.
Safari over there’s just enough time to high tail it for a tour of the manor house before viewings close. Now Himself and I have seen some really good manor houses in our time but this is a level of opulence we’ve not seen outside of palaces. Longleat is awash with highly decorative Elizabethan gilt features, truly fit for royalty. Indeed, Elizabeth I was known to have visited. I’m sure she felt right at home. It is, quite simply, magnificent.
We learn of Longleat’s history and the safari’s inception some 60 years ago. An innovative approach to meet the rising costs of maintaining the estate, oh and did I mention…a home for their little lion cub. Incredibly the application was approved and all we see today followed. Isn’t that fabulous?
There’s only one thing that could top the day off – a giant otter sighting. Now if you’ve never heard of a giant otter I don’t blame you. They’re extraordinarily elusive, so much so, that at one point in the 1990s they were declared extinct. Giant otters live in the South American Amazon Basin and grow up to 1.8 metres in length. HUGE! They’re morning and afternoon creatures – at days end, we have a fighting chance of spotting them. Himself looks decidedly nervous when I firmly announce that I’m not leaving until I see one.
And gentle readers, it’s here I have my last win of the day. Having hustled Himself to the otter enclosure, lo and behold…they’re out. Not just out but putting on a spectacular display of water aerobics, flipping, diving and performing somersaults in front of the underwater viewing platform, clearly excited for day’s end when their supper arrives. I line up with every other child to enjoy the spectacle. The otter pair is enormous with long rudder like flat tails, short bullet heads and powerful bodies. At one point I have my hand up to the glass and one firmly plants a paw on the other side to execute a turn. Oh happy day.
All of a sudden they disappear. We zip to the external enclosure to see their keeper arrive with salmon in hand. She tells me that this pair are retired, now 19 years old. They’ve done their work in a breeding program that saw them deliver 25 cubs, who went on to have 75 more, some of whom have been released back into the Amazon in a repopulation program. And if that’s not a positive message to end the day on, I don’t know what is. I first learned about giant otters from a 4 am documentary in the 1990s – I can’t believe I’ve been lucky enough to see them in person.
It’s Himself’s unenviable task to drag me away. It takes a while. I’d stay until they threw me out.
Extraordinarily, even with everything we’ve seen and done today, there are parts of Longleat we didn’t get to experience. There’s a lemur walk, one on one animal experiences, a maze that takes 45 minutes to complete, many shopping opportunities and extended tours of the manor.
On the way out I do sneak a cheeky walk through the Animal Playground, full of pygmy goats, wallabies and a mama and baby reindeer. There must be an Australian connection here – many furry Australians call Longleat home.
What a fabulous resource Wiltshire has in Longleat. If I lived here, a membership card would be firmly in my back pocket. If you happen to be traveling in the Wiltshire area DO NOT MISS Longleat.
Himself really should take a bow – he’s really outdone himself on this one. Happy, happy, happy.
Miss Baci Travels 