South Lakes Safari Zoo

As it was a girls' weekend we decided to go an visit the South Lakes Safari Zoo. It was only £2 each to get in with online pre-booking!

When we got there we decided to treat ourselves to tiger feeding as its something neither of us had done before. Before that we had an hour to wander around. Here is a little video of our day out:

#CountryKids at South Lakes Safari Zoo

My parents treated us to a trip to the South Lakes Safari Zoo as an early birthday treat for my son. At the moment it is £5 per adult with children free so its great value. It was our first trip under the new management and my parents hadn't seen many of the changes from the last couple of years. The sky was almost a perfect blue for a backdrop to a Cumbrian savannah:

There was a Halloween themed trail but we didn't have a go just enjoyed the decorations:

It wasn't long before my son found the first of the animal statues that children can climb on to:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Happy New Year #R2BC

Our hostess with the mostest for January is the lovely Michelle and I will be back in charge in February! Hopefully more folks will come on board again now Christmas is over.. Here are my first reasons to be cheerful of 2017:

1) Welcoming the New Year in

We have a tradition of staying up and watching the fireworks from London and this year's display was definitely one to put a smile on all our faces:

2) A New Year walk

Another family tradition guaranteed to put smiles on faces is a New Year's Day walk up the Helm. Fresh air, great company and stunning views what more could you ask for?

#CountryKids at South Lakes Safari Zoo

My poor son was dragged to Barrow with me far too early on a holiday as I had to go into school to prepare for the children coming back tomorrow. He did enjoy investigating my classroom but I decided to treat him to a free trip to the South Lakes Safari Zoo on the way home! We hadn't been for over a year since September 2015 so it was good to go back - an extra bonus for it being free...

The first new thing we found was the baby giraffe who was born on Christmas Day:

Then I persuaded my son to go through the walk through safari (the emus are quite intimidating!). Luckily they stayed away from us this time and it was only the Rheas who got up close:

The adorable prairie dogs were right up to the edge of the path making the most of the feed that people had put out:

#CountryKids at South Lakes Safari Zoo

With big sister on her first day of secondary school little brother and I took advantage of the nice weather to head over to South Lakes Safari Zoo as we hadn't been since the recent expansions had been undertaken. There is a brand new road entrance, car park and access to the zoo:

We passed the brand new playground (no time to waste in there but it looks amazing!). Instead we found the new enclosure which had a range of animals including donkeys, zebras and (as my son named them) Bewilderbeasts:

We had purchased a bag of animal feed on arrival which we could use in the walk through worldwide safari. There are restrictions on which animals you can feed it to and my son was happiest with the little ones like the geese:

#CountryKids at South Lakes Safari Zoo

After our exertions at Parkrun we headed for the South Lakes Safari Zoo for a value £5 visit. We only go in the winter when its discounted entry as its an expensive visit otherwise. When we go we have our favourite animals but also also enjoy seeing what has changed. This time we started with the giraffes:

Then we wandered past the rhinos and bears before spending ages admiring the baboons: