Adults only – sampling southern England COMPLETED - Page 51 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The estate is huge, isn't it? I guess most of them were at one time, but Longleat has managed to hold onto more of the extended property than a lot of estates. It lends itself perfectly to the safari idea, as a lot of the time you can't see any of the estate buildings at all.
What a nice breakfast nook you had at the B&B! I hope you kept an eye on that teapot as it may waddle off on its' own!
That's odd with the couple you met, resides not so far from you!
I've had a few myself: Paris in 1997, I came out of the hotel (near Arc de Triomphe) and a couple asked me for directions to some where. They lived just a few miles from me back home. One of my Europe tours and a couple a few years ago had lived a few miles from my residence. The best one was when I was in grade school on vacation in Sarasota, Florida with my parents and going to a local restaurant. I think it was Morrison's Cafeteria. When entering, we ran into my current teacher and another teacher from my school! There's a story behind the latter... Quite a small world!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Last edited by SuperDave; 07-14-2014 at 10:51 PM..
The estate is huge, isn't it? I guess most of them were at one time, but Longleat has managed to hold onto more of the extended property than a lot of estates. It lends itself perfectly to the safari idea, as a lot of the time you can't see any of the estate buildings at all.
It's a massive place, and as you say, a perfect setting for a safari.
I love that teapot!!! At first glance, I thought Longleat was Highclere Castle from Downton Abbey!!
it's definitely not, as it's filmed somewhere in Berkshire or Oxfordshire I think. I know you can do tours around it, as I looked into it for a friend who loves Downtown Abbey, but the tours seem to sell out almost as soon as they're announced....
What a nice breakfast nook you had at the B&B! I hope you kept an eye on that teapot as it may waddle off on its' own!
That's odd with the couple you met, resides not so far from you!
I've had a few myself: Paris in 1997, I came out of the hotel (near Arc de Triomphe) and a couple asked me for directions to some where. They lived just a few miles from me back home. One of my Europe tours and a couple a few years ago had lived a few miles from my residence. The best one was when I was in grade school on vacation in Sarasota, Florida with my parents and going to a local restaurant. I think it was Morrison's Cafeteria. When entering, we ran into my current teacher and another teacher from my school! There's a story behind the latter... Quite a small world!
Sunday 11 May – part two: I don’t think they want to be fed…
Your first stop is the African village, where you can get out. As we did, we heard one set of parents threatening to feed one of their kids to the lions. We asked them if there was an additional charge for that and the dad replied but it would definitely be a once in a lifetime experience for his son. Well, it’s one way of ensuring they behave I guess…
It’s a good idea, as it’s got toilets, which I promptly used, a shop and a café, so you could prepare yourself for the safari ahead. They also have animals here, and the first we saw were the giraffe, including quite a few babies, and zebra…
Then we saw these guys. We had no idea what they were…
We also saw them out of their enclosure later on. Whether they were supposed to be or not was another matter…
We walked up to the walk with the lemurs exhibit, which I must admit I was a bit nervous about, especially as there were signs all over telling you not to feed or touch them. Fortunately, it pretty much worked that if you left them alone, they’d leave you alone, and there was a member of staff to keep an eye on things and answer any questions you had. She was the first of many staff that we’d see during our safari. You can certainly see where your admission money goes here, as my goodness, they have a lot of people employed here!
Anyway, the lemirs were really fun to watch, and I managed to snag some good shots of their various antics…
In the couple of boxes they had, there were lemurs crammed into each…
We started to walk back to the car, and quickened our pace, as the rain was starting to come down again, but fortunately by the time we got back to the giraffe area, it had pretty much stopped again. It was time for the giraffe feeding for an extra £2 (c. $3.30) each. We didn’t bother with it, and it’s probably just as well we didn’t, as the giraffes just weren’t interested. The staff were trying everything to entice them over, but they didn’t want any of it. We stood and watched a while and laughed at their efforts. Trust animals to be difficult and not cooperate.
We then headed back to the car, and saw these guys on the way back…
As we got into the car, the family next to us were just getting out, with the dad in shorts! We said that we didn’t think it was that warm, and he immediately agreed, saying he’d made a mistake. Yep, I think you did!
We set off in the car, and went through the giraffe and zebra area.
We saw the first of many, many safari trucks here. They were literally everywhere, which was good to see. A couple of weeks ago, Longleat hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when a woman’s car burst into flames in the lion enclosure. She was fine, but some reports claimed that the staff hadn’t been anywhere, but from what we saw today, I think that was probably exaggeration, as they were everywhere today, and I don’t think that’s as a result of that incident.
And look – finally the giraffes are finally showing an interest in feeding time, 10 minutes after it was due to have started! I guess they didn’t want to be rushed…
The next section we came to was the flamingos, but it was very difficult to get photos of them, given how they were contained…
It was the same with the vultures, which we came to next, and I couldn’t get one decent shot of them…
Next: I am not having you regurgitate pellets at me!
This section of animal viewing is all new from when I was there, when all the animals were seen from your car in the safari area. Longleat certainly does get some bad press. Before that car fire there was an outcry about the killing of several lions for population control. Apparently they let the lions breed because the public likes seeing baby lions and then they realized they had too many and, instead of selling them to other zoos, they killed them! Those birds are guinea fowl. They're everywhere in Africa. They got their names because you could buy one for a guinea.
Sorry the room wasn't quite the quality you were used to but breakfast sure looked yummy! Great pictures from the safari area so far. Love all the little giraffes and that lemur pile was too much!
This section of animal viewing is all new from when I was there, when all the animals were seen from your car in the safari area. Longleat certainly does get some bad press. Before that car fire there was an outcry about the killing of several lions for population control. Apparently they let the lions breed because the public likes seeing baby lions and then they realized they had too many and, instead of selling them to other zoos, they killed them!
Oh my goodness, I hadn't heard that - how awful.
Quote:
Those birds are guinea fowl. They're everywhere in Africa. They got their names because you could buy one for a guinea.
Interesting, because we had guinea fowl behind our house when I was growing up and I don't remember them looking anything like that - maybe they're a different breed?
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Can't wait to see how the safari goes. 
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Pixie Dust
I hope you kept an eye on that teapot as it may waddle off on its' own! 
Quite a small world! 
PassPorter Guide Author
it's definitely not, as it's filmed somewhere in Berkshire or Oxfordshire I think. 
I know you can do tours around it, as I looked into it for a friend who loves Downtown Abbey, but the tours seem to sell out almost as soon as they're announced....
Well, it’s one way of ensuring they behave I guess… 
We stood and watched a while and laughed at their efforts. Trust animals to be difficult and not cooperate. 
We said that we didn’t think it was that warm, and he immediately agreed, saying he’d made a mistake. Yep, I think you did! 
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