A day out at Port Lympne

Today we took the kids to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park. Uncle Wesley, Uncle Ian and his girlfriend Amanda all joined us. The trip there, unfortunately took a bit longer than expected. We were 'following' Wesley (who had the GPS), but he went speeding ahead on one of the roundabouts, leaving many cars between us and on the next roundabout we had no clue which way we were meant to go! There was no map in the car and he was not answering his cell phone. So we guessed and hoped for the best...and went the wrong way! We were then stuck on the motorway for fifteen minutes, driving to the next exit before we could turn around to get back to the point where we made the mistake. It was a little frustrating to say the least. We did finally make it though.

Checking out the tigers

This lion was on the prowl, pacing up and down his enclosure, with an attendant keeping a watchful eye on him. He is apparently at his sexual prime, full of testosterone...with no mate. The female lions on site are all related to him and as his breed is endangered they are searching worldwide for a female (non-related in order to keep the breed strong.) Poor guy - hope they find one soon.

Considering how small a country England is, this place was huge. We walked miles to see various animals, and in many cases, no animals as it was pretty cold and many of them were hiding in their shelters (we assume.)

Checking out these cute monkeys (I forget their official name), especially this Mama and her baby.

What a good uncle - little legs were getting tired. Mind you, so were mine and he did not offer me any help!

Amanda turned out to be the hero of the day, with her trusty Mary Poppins bag. At one point Bryttain fell and skinned her knee and it was Amanda who had plasters (Bandaids), moments later she produced giant cookies. Needless to say, we were impressed and grateful.

An extra option you can choose is the African Safari Experience, which takes you through another part of the park to see more animals. Part of their program is breeding animals and then returning them to their natural habitat, in the wild. They are pretty successful.

Our ride.

 Arran sat next to Uncle Wesley, who insisted on sitting next to the window so that he could get the best view, never mind that there was a little boy next to him who would have like to see. Asia excitedly waiting for us to set off.

 Uncle Ian, with his girlfriend Amanda, and Bryttain and I, all ready and waiting for our safari experience.

There was a stopping point on the 'safari' where the children could play, snacks could be bought and reptiles visited. We did all three.

We left thoroughly exhausted, but it had been a good day.