South Lakes Wild Animal Park ♥

Hey guys

I know I usually post nail pics and I haven't posted anything for a while for which I'm sorry!

Today I'm going to be posting something a little bit different.

On 4th April Mal and I took a coach trip to South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria and what an amazing day it was! I first heard of this park after seeing a pic of a lemur that Hotangel0605 posted on her instagram page last year. I could see that there were no barriers between her and the lemur and I was intrigued!  I love animals so looked into the park and knew I had to go as soon as possible! A couple of months ago Mal brought a coach company's booklet home because he'd seen that they were running a trip to the park and it wasn't long until we booked our seats!

For the 2 hours it took to get there I was like a giddy kid! I was soooo excited! More excited than the kids on the coach!!

When we arrived we went to the lemur section and saw that they'd be fed an hour and a quarter later and were sleeping so we had time to get some food before going back.

In the lemur enclosure was a pond, different types of lemur, a bunny and two 'bully' goats gruff. We gave them that name after they butted the lemurs and the bunny! There were also some peacocks in that area.

We left the lemurs to their slumber and went into an area with a raised walkway on which we were greeted by a monkey. There were emus, flamingos and other birds below us. As we walked round we saw prairie dogs and random 'ninja' birds so called by us because they look as though they have ninja turtle bands over their eyes!

We kept walking round the park and saw bears, 'humble' penguins (aka Humboldt penguins), tigers, lions, cheeter, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, reindeer, parrots and other animals.

I was so happy about how close we could get to the animals and how happy and well they all looked.

We went back to the lemur area for their feeding time and they were a lot more lively than they had been earlier on. They were not even the slightest bit bothered by the number of people invading their space! I guess they know that more people = more grapes!

One of the keepers gave a talk about the lemurs and the work the park is doing to help protect them in Madagascar. Another keeper kept an eye on the bucket of grapes which a group of lemurs were also guarding!  When it was time to pass out grapes the lemurs were better behaved than we had been warned. They took the grapes gently and it was funny watching them eat. One of the lemurs jumped onto the head of a lady near me who had bent to tie her daughter's shoelace but he didn't stay, he just used her as a stepping stone! Others leaned against people like they were trying to draw attention to themselves to get their grapes.

We had another walk around and went to the cafe for hot drinks because it was a bit chilly.  We watched the giraffes being fed although neither of us fed them.

After visiting the gift shop and parrots we went looking for the kangaroos but they must have been hiding so we went around again and then back to the lemurs. While we were there the sun came out and instantly all of the lemurs went into their well known pose! Two of them reminded me of a couple of little old men! Some of them were making noises similar to the meowing of a cat. I asked one of the keepers who said they were shouting for their group.

I went into the lemur house and noticed the baby lemurs who were so small! While I was standing, looking through the glass at them some lemurs came in through the open door and sat on the window ledge next to me, peering in at their friends and family!

We were still inside when the keeper led the lemurs in to put them away for the night. She was like the pied piper! Most of the lemurs went into their indoor enclosure ok but one was a bit more cheeky and jumped up to the ceiling where he scrambled along from one end to the other before going in!

We had time for another walk around before going back to the coach although I didn't want to leave the lemurs!

All in all it was a fantastic day from travelling through some extremely pretty countryside to the actual park which they are in the process of expanding to 3 times its current size! I would go back again in a heartbeat and it probably won't be long before we do!

Here are some of the pictures I took that I'm most proud of.

Love Lou x