A rude awakening at Longleat Safari Park

It was night time, around 1am, and I couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t the Lions roaring at Longleat Safari Park that was keeping me awake or the sea lions we had heard barking the day before. In fact, it was the rain, which wasn’t just falling on the caravan roof, it was hammering down. We well and truly have the caravanning curse when it comes to weather.

It was day three of our caravanning adventure at Longleat Club Site and we had just been awoken abruptly with a loud crash. Both me and Mark ran outside to see what had happened only to see that our awning had collapsed due to the amount of rain. Will we ever get to go camping when it’s not torrential rain?!

The next morning

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Despite a sleepless night, we were all smiles and raring to go the next morning as today was Longleat Safari Park Day! So, following a quick bowl of shreddies (breakfast of champions) and having fixed the awning, we were in the car and ready to go. I say go, the drive to Longleat Safari Park was literally 2 minutes up the little lane from the Club Site. In fact we could have walked to Longleat’s Main Square in 2 minutes flat but we wanted to drive through the safari park so took the car.

First off the only reason we decided to drive through the safari park rather than take the safari bus at Longleat was because there is a monkey by pass lane. A blessing if you want to make sure your car remains intact. We all know someone who has been to the safari park who has had the reverse indicator removed or the windscreen wipers pulled off by monkeys. We were not willing to take this risk!!

The African Village

We had to queue for a little while in our car as there was only one ticket booth open. It reminded me of the ticket booths at Disneyland Paris but more of a wait as someone seemed to be having difficulty paying, which held a few cars up. Once we were through it was a very short drive to the car park for African Village. I definitely recommend you stop off here as it’s the perfect place to view the giraffes and zebras.

Giraffe feeding time

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When we arrived at the African Village it just happened to be giraffe feeding time. What an experience and an inexpensive way to really have a special moment with these magnificent animals. I’ve looked at the VIP packages and have been put off by the hefty price tag but this is a great way to meet the giraffes without breaking the bank. We bought 3 branches for £5. This allowed us access to the giraffe viewing platform where we could feed the giraffes our offering. We immediately caught the attention of a medium size giraffe who decided we were his best friends for the next 5 minutes. He even followed us down the platform when we left! Sam loved feeding him and this is what childhood memories are made of!

Shop and café

The African Village is a good starting point for the day out. There’s a small shop where we treated Sam to a safari hat which he loved and wore all day. He even insisted on wearing it to pre-school when we got back home! There are some absolutely gorgeous gifts in the shop. I could have spent a fortune but like most attractions, some of the prices in the shop were rather high!

There’s also a little café which we didn’t use but I imagine it would have been a great place for breakfast. There was a pretend tree to climb up and a rope bridge for kids to play on. Unfortunately this was closed for maintenance but looked like it would be good fun.

The Lemur walk-through

We crossed over the road via a bridge, there’s also a zebra crossing for anyone with a push-chair or wheel chair, to the Lemur Walk-through. At first we thought we wouldn’t get to see any lemurs as we could only see sheep. Very sweet but I was hoping to see the lemurs. However, as we walked to the end we were greeted by friendly pygmy goats and a glimpse of a black and white – the ring tailed lemurs! A few years back, when I was freelancing, I was commissioned to contribute rhymes to a children’s book. I wrote a poem on the ring tailed lemurs so they have since had a special place in my heart.

And they didn’t disappoint. I love how much character the ring tailed lemurs have. Although I was shocked to learn that one of them had lost his thumb in a fight with the other one for dominance! Beware those sharp little teeth innocently chewing on their veg.

After admiring the lemurs, stroking the goats and stopping off to look at the beautiful large turtles, it was back in the car for the safari!

The Safari at Longleat Safari Park

The main event – the safari. We were given a cd to listen to in the car which talked about the animals. A lovely touch but we quickly gave up on that as it was difficult to listen with a chatty three year old in the back.

Avoiding the monkeys

Driving through the safari feels like a real adventure!

There are so many animals to see and some you can interact with. We admired the beautiful zebras and giraffes which Sam loved as he had his Zavi the Zebra hot water bottle with him on our trip.

As already mentioned we by-passed the monkeys but we did choose to go through the Deer Park. There’s the option to avoid this and a warning that they may cause damage to your car. There were a few over-enthusiastic deers, but I’m pleased to report the car remained intact!

In fact the deers are hilarious and you have the option to pull over and buy deer feed for them.  A wonderful experience but we weren’t brave enough as we already had a deer trying to get his head into the car!

We couldn’t see the elephant but we did see the camels and rhinoceroses at the big game park.

Next up was the big cats!

The big cats

You have to wait for the gates to be opened before you can enter each territory of this section of the safari park and there are plenty of signs to advise you to keep your windows closed!  We saw tigers, lions and further along there were wolves and hyenas too. We couldn’t believe it when in the lion territory, there were lions walking right in front of our car. Such magnificent creatures and there were so many in this large area of the safarai park. We saw a cheetah too with her older cubs in the distance. Cheetahs are our favourite big cat so this was a real treat.

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All in all the safari drive took about an hour. It’s wonderful to be able to be truly amongst the animals and to see them in this way.

Top Tip: Make sure you visit the toilets beforehand as on a busy day the safari can take up to two hours. The African Village has toilets including a children’s toilet, perfect for my potty training little man!

The Main Square

The safari park was wonderful but the village square is where the excitement begins. We loved the square and it was literally just a very short walk from Longleat Club Site where we were staying.

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Throughout the square there’s plenty to do, we had so much fun, from giant model crocodiles to the Rockin Rhino ride. Below are some of our highlights.

Restaurants

First up it was lunchtime so we headed to the canteen style restaurant, The Chameleon Tree Restaurant and Coffee House, for a sandwich. I was disappointed that the fast food kiosk was closed, I love a hot dog at a theme park, that’s my thing! However, I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the food here was.

We went to the coffee house side of the restaurant rather than the hot buffet. Sam had a kiddies lunch where you can choose the items for the lunch box. I had a hot cheese and onion slice as I was feeling rather chilly; have I mentioned it was drizzling for a lot of the day! The prices, although not cheap were not extortionate and the food was really good quality.  Next time I would love to try their pizza restaurant, Pizza Piazza, as this looks really nice and gets great reviews.

Animals at Longleat Safari Park

There are so many animals that you can see in the main square. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal with some amazing creatures of this world. The highlights have to be:

The Koalas

A new attraction, Koala Creek, you can walk past these adorable fluffy miniature bears as they chill out on their trees eating eucalyptus!

Animal Adventure

I held a snake! I’ve never even touched a snake before but after my son, who is only three, quite happily held the massive python in his hands so I couldn’t exactly say no. He loves snakes and was so calm and gentle. Even the animal handler said how happy the snake was with him. Next up it was my turn and how could I refuse when my son had been so brave?! Before I could think twice about it I had the python in my hands.

The snake felt the exact opposite to what I thought it would feel like. Instead of cold and slimy, it was warm and leathery. It was actually very beautiful and I’m now not only over my fear of snakes but have a new fascination with these creatures.

Of course it’s not all terrifying creatures from the jungle in this area. If you prefer there are plenty of opportunities to stroke something a little bit fluffier like the cute little guinea pig we met afterwards. 

It is a great opportunity to learn more about animals, ask questions and get to interact with the animals. The animal handlers are very friendly and informative.  A great interactive learning experience for kids.

You will also find lots of opportunities to meet other animals around the main square and we loved feeding the birds and meeting the meerkats.

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Safari Train

Who doesn’t love a train ride and what better way to view Longleat Estate! The little train is just under 10 minutes journey. My son loved it and it made all the right choo choo noises to make his day! It even went past Longleat Club Site so we tried to look for our caravan. The scenery on the estate is breathtaking. We passed a waterfall and the lake with the boats.

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Bat Cave

We love bats in our household and Sam had his special glow in the dark bat top on especially for the bat cave. Unfortunately as it had been overcast and drizzling all day there was no sunshine to power his glow in the dark top, but the thought was there!

It can be disconcerting having the bats swoop so close to you but fear not. Bats are incredible creatures and can navigate in the dark so they know if they are getting too close to you. These bats are the Egyptian fruit bats and you again can ask the very helpful staff lots of questions about them.

The Jungle Cruise boat trip at Longleat Safari Park

This had to be a highlight for me and I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this before. What makes it really special are the sea lions and gorillas. You board the boat and set sail with the sea lions following beside you, making it known by their very loud barks that they’re hungry!!

You pass the gorilla colony in the boat and it’s lovely to watch these magnificent creatures in their lakeside location. There’s a guide on the boat who tells you all about the gorillas and the other creatures of the lake. He was fantastic and had us all laughing on a few occasions, especially when he mentioned that when the sea lions get too close to the gorillas they aren’t afraid to shoo them away. They apparently throw things at them, even their own poo to get rid of them. My son loves a good poo story, he’s at that age, so made us smile and also made me appreciate that the boat didn’t go too near to the shore!

Next up was the feeding of the sea lions. You buy a cup of fish for £1. With a warning to not hold onto the fish as the sea lions have very sharp teeth, you throw the fish to the sea lions who bark in delight demanding more. This was another very inexpensive and interactive experience at Longleat. It’s what makes Longleat Safari Park really stand out as an attraction. Another beautiful childhood memory created.

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Adventure Castle

We ended our day at Longleat playing in the adventure castle on the slides and small zip line for kids. The softplay had already closed so we weren’t able to enjoy this. Hopefully we can get to play here next time.

We could have easily spent another day at Longleat even though the park wasn’t busy. We will definitely be returning and would recommend Longleat to families of all ages.

Our last evening

Our last night at Longleat and we returned to the Royal Oak for a Wookey Hole cheese fondue before going back to the caravan. And guess what? It was still raining! We still had a great evening though and having a caravan is a definite advantage in this weather.

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Did the rain put us off? Will we ever go caravanning again? The answer is yes – we absolutely loved it despite the rain we now have the caravan bug.

Longleat Safari Park tickets, how to get a discount

Tickets to Longleat Safari Park aren’t cheap and it’s not surprising as there’s so much to see and do. If however you are a family on a budget (like us!) it’s worth looking at getting a discount for your day out. Here’s 5 ways to get a discount for Longleat Safari Park:

1.      Tesco Clubcard Vouchers – I actually worked on the Clubcard deals when they launched (many moons ago and showing my age)!  I’ve never fully appreciated them as much as I do now that I have a young son. They are perfect for amazing savings on days out. We actually had enough vouchers that all our tickets were free, making for an enjoyable but affordable day out.

2.      If you’re a member of the Caravan and Motorhome Club you can get a discount for Longleat and many other attractions across the UK through their Great Savings Guide. I actually work for the Club and I’m a member too. They have some amazing savings on days out and 20% off tickets to Longleat Safari Park. 

3. Check out sites like Groupon, Money Saving Expert or VoucherCodes to see if there are any recent offers available.

4. Visit Longleat’s website. They often have special offers. Currently they have an offer of a free drink at dinnertime. Every saving helps you get more from your day out so it’s definitely worth checking beforehand. They also have discounts if you want to combine a visit to Cheddar Gorge.

5. Lastly, not applicable for everyone but worth mentioning in case you work for the NHS, Fire Services and Police Services, there’s an Emergency Service discount to Longleat available.

Lastly…

All in all we had a wonderful time on our caravan adventure at Longleat Club Site and we all agreed we would like to come back one day.

If you missed Part One of my Longleat caravan adventure blog, have a read here: Longleat Club Site: Family Caravan Adventure and Wookey Hole

Or to read more about our Family Holidays visit Our Travel and Adventures on the blog.

Also don’t forget to watch our vlog (part two) of our Longleat Safari Park adventure: