A re-sheduled visit to Cotswold Wildlife Park
At the start of the summer holidays Freyja and I made a list of activities that she wanted to do over the six weeks. They included swimming, library visits, trips to the park and to the cinema. In the first couple of weeks we had managed to get through most of our list already, but then I broke my leg. My family helped keep the girls entertained, but we didn’t manage a trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park which Freyja had been really looking forward to. Now my leg is better and I am driving, I was determined to re-schedule our missed visit. On the first day of the holiday, the weather looked like it was going to be dry, so we set off for the Wildlife Park.
When we arrived, we decided to go straight to the walled garden. Within this part of the Wildlife Park are the otters. The four of them were very lively. They were running around in their enclosure, chasing each other and splashing around in the water. We stood watching them for quite some time. I’m not sure if it was the otters that entertained me most or watching the girls react to them. Emily’s giggles and shrieks of joy were just beautiful.
The main attraction in the walled garden are the penguins. Having seen Humboldt Penguins on Boulders Beach in South Africa, they have become a bit of a favourite of mine. They are such gorgeous birds. Again we spent quite some time admiring them. They look so clumsy as they waddle around on the land, but once they are in the water, they are so fast and graceful – almost like a different animal completely.
We spent quite some time at the penguins, as we do every visit, and I thought it would be nice to get a “penguin selfie”. However, despite it being early on in the day, Emily was already refusing to play ball and determined to ruin was could have been a perfectly lovely selfie.
The walled garden is also home to one of Freyja’s favourite animals – meerkats.
Back in August, the Asiatic Lions had cubs. Emily was very excited about seeing them. I didn’t want to get her hopes up as on our previous trips, the lions are usually asleep and partly obscured from view. It seemed like this would be the case today, as we caught sight of the lioness asleep. However, a bit further round in their enclosure was the male (asleep, obviously) with a couple of the cubs alert and eyeing-up the visitors.
The Wildlife Park is such a beautiful place. I love walking through the grounds and being able to see animals such as the rhinos against the backdrop of the house and gardens. It’s a very unique place.
Emily insisted that the rhinos with their creased skins looked like they were wearing pyjamas.
Inside the restaurant you can see the rock hyrax. I was hoping this may have been the mystery animal that Freyja had come back from a school trip talking about. I have a degree in Zoology, but struggled to figure out what animal was “like an elephant, but small and a bit like a hedgehog but not spikey”. The rock hyrax is closely related to the elephant – not that you would know that by looking at it. However, it is still not the mystery animal that I am yet to identify. Still, the rock hyrax provided the girls with plenty of entertainment as they watched the younger ones run around, chasing each other.
I was quite keen to go into the Madagascar exhibit as I love seeing the lemurs. However, as much as the girls love animals, they are very nervous of them when there are no bars or glass separating them. I persuaded them to give the walk-through lemur exhibit a go, but ended up having to carry both of the girls when we went in as one of the ring-tailed lemurs whizzed passed them. However, the girls were far more bothered about the lemurs than they were of them. Whilst they were fussing around about the lemurs potentially “getting them”, the most attention they were actually receiving was from one of the other types of lemurs who seemed pretty annoyed that they were disturbing its sleep. Eventually, the girls gained enough courage to walk through the exhibit themselves, watching (cautiously) the lemurs and talking to one of the zookeepers about them.
Freyja also gained a bit more courage on the play area, climbing higher on one of the climbing frames than I have ever seen her do so.
This new found courage manifested in other ways too. The girls don’t like the peacocks wandering around the park. I can’t really blame them, they are big birds and I wouldn’t want that beak too close to be either. They normally run off if one of the peacocks even look at them, however, they decided to get them a taste of their own medicine. The peacock quickly turned and fled as both the girls ran towards it. Peacock 0 : Girls 1
You were so lucky with the lions, we only got to see the tips of the cubs ears when we visited in the summer. It’s a lovely place to explore isn’t it #Countrykids
We love it there. So lucky with the lion cubs.
It’s great that you’ve finally managed to cross the Cotswold Wildlife Park off your Summer Bucket List, even if it’s a little late. I love the imagination of kids and how Emily thought the Rhinos were wearing Pyjamas, I can see what she was thinking. It’s a shame the Rock Hydrax isn’t the animal that Freyja saw, that description to me paints the picture of an armadillo with it’s long nose and the way they roll into balls? It’s great that they got brave enough to walk through the lemurs and face off against the peacocks.
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
I do feel a bit bad that the girls were chasing peacocks, but I was happy that they were brave enough to stand up to them.
We haven’t been here for ages but really enjoyed it last time we went. We were hoping to make it over half term but the week flew by. Lovely photos x
It is lovely there. Always have a great time.
This looks like a fun place! I adore lemurs and I love that you can go into their enclosures (you can at Drusillas down here too). How small id the mystery animal? All that comes to my mind is an elephant shrew, but I have never seen one in real life! Or possibly an armadillo or an aardvark, but they’re not that small?! #CountryKids
I have still not got to the bottom of the mystery animal…
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Ha ha my toddler does that too – tries to ruin all selfies (and all other pictures too…). I guess it is just the age. These are some fantastic pictures and I had no idea Cotswold has a wildlife park – they’ve got loads of cool animals! Would love to visit there sometime. #countrykids
Sounds like a wonderful day – I am glad that they girls were brave with the peacocks, they can be rather intimidating! The lions look fab! #CountryKids
Peacocks are a bit scary…
What a fun place. I always heard and read good reviews about the place, but we’ve never been. The lions looks amazing. Emily’s comment about the rhino is funny. They do look like they are wearing pyjamas. lol #countrykids
Oh you MUST go
What a fantastic day out! You managed to see a huge variety of animals, and it is great that you can get really close to them. I am hoping to get down to the Cotswolds later this year, so I will check the Cotswold Wildlife Park out. #countrykids
It is brilliant there, but so many wonderful places to visit in The Cotswolds.
Ooh I didn’t know the Cotswolds had a wildlife park. I’ve only ever once been stuck in traffic on the way through it and promised myself we’d go back one day. It looks like you had a great time!
You must go, it is brilliant! So many great places to visit in The Cotswolds