Not so recently, I took myself, my camera and my fiance to Cotswold Wildlife Park. And I took a lot of pictures. The wildlife park was so good, though, that it lured me back again a few months later (this time, sans camera) with my mother. And then I had the inspired idea of sharing some of the many photos I took on my first trip to the park in a blog post! Along with some information about the park, of course, in case you decide to visit yourself! This will be a very photo heavy post - so settle in with a cuppa and prepare to say "aww!"
If you don't like snakes, crocodiles and lizards you might want to skip the next few pictures. We'll get back to cute and fluffy real soon, promise!
This photo has been heavily edited (by a total noob when it comes to photo editing) to try to take away some of the glare and reflection. Although it's a rubbish photo, I had to share it because; ANACONDA! I have never before seen an anaconda in the flesh and I was truly shocked at just how huge this snake is. You cannot grasp the enormity of it until you are able to see it in the flesh. And now, back to cute and fluffy!
And some more cute and fluffy, but slightly more 'everyday' animals follow. Also, my fiancé was obsessed with the Giant Anteater, pictured above. We were stood there for ages watching this Anteater walk up and down his enclosure!
There were also goats, cows, pigs, mice and rats. But I didn't get any good pictures of those. More adorable animals coming atcha, right...now...
Those little rascals in the last photo? Thems Wolverines. And like the Anaconda, I'd never seen Wolverines in the flesh before, either! They were very camera shy, so this was the best picture I could get. On my return to the park a few months later, I was only able to see one of them, and he/she was curled up in a hole in the ground asleep!
Oh boy, this post is getting long. I promise I'm going to wrap this up real soon. I just have some monkey business to get up to first...
Phew, that was a lot of monkey business! Honestly, the absolute best part of Cotswold Wildlife Park is the Madagascar Walkthrough. Prioritise this, if you visit CWP, because on my second visit with my mum, I didn't, and we got there five minutes after the walkthrough had closed! We did get to see some meerkats fighting over a piece of boiled egg though, so there's that. The Madagascar Walkthrough is where you can actually walk with the monkeys and birds that inhabit this area of the park. Brilliant photo opportunities and generally just a brilliant life experience. I'd never been so close to monkeys before! Amazing.
If you're looking for a great day out with the kids/boyfriend/parents/yourself, make Cotswold Wildlife Park top of your list. I mean, it's practically on my doorstep, but even if it was, like, four hours away, I'd still make the trip at least once. All the animals are well cared for, you can see that they are happy and they have plenty of space. There's a cafeteria on site, or you're welcome to bring a picnic with you, and a play area for the kids. There's also a train, which is freakin' awesome, that costs £1 each on top of admission (which is £15 for an adult) and takes you on a 5 minute journey around the park. It's such a huge park, you will be doing a lot of walking (and a lot of buying, in the gift shop at the end!) and each time I've been we've spent 4-6 hours there. So you can easily spend a day here. There are animal feedings at certain times, too. Last time I went, we made it in time to see the penguins being fed, and that was fun. So it's worth looking into what times those feedings are on and planning ahead. You can find out so much more about the park by visiting their website. And, believe it or not, I wasn't paid/incentivised to write this post; I just really love the park (and I wanted to show off my photos!)
What's your favourite animal?
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