"I am just going outside and may be some time" Oates 1912
"I am just going outside and may be some time" Oates 1912
Member since:17.04.2002
Reviews:51
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A couple of weeks ago we decided to take the children to Woburn Safari Park.
We like to visit zoos occasionally and all young children enjoy seeing animals. We were looking for a safari park in particular though because we thought the ‘drive through’ would be more exciting and less tiring for our 3 offspring.
Woburn Safari Park is in Bedfordshire just off junction 13 of the M1. It’s quite well signposted although we did drive around aimlessly for a while trying to find the entrance!
Woburn has been a safari park since the 1970’s although animals have been kept on the estate since the early 19th century. Today Woburn Safari Park is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats as well as educating people about these species.
We live near Lincoln, so this was going to be a long day out. We aimed to arrive at Woburn at about 9.30am because the park itself opens at 10am and closes at 5pm. Arriving early ensured that we were one of the first vehicles to enter the park and could view the animals at our leisure.
The approach to the park gives you an opportunity to see some of the 10 different species of deer that roam the grounds of the park and nearby Woburn Abbey. Woburn is famous for it’s deer and has the only collection of Vietnamese Sika deer in the UK. These deer are extinct in the wild.
There was much excitement as we approached the entrance, mostly caused by two enormous statues of a reclining lion on either side of the road and a glimpse of some furry four-footed beast in the distance. I have to admit that I was as thrilled as the kids!
So we duly paid for our guidebook and waited patiently for the park to open. No pets or dogs are allowed and neither are convertible or soft top cars for obvious reasons. You should keep your windows and sunroof closed and on no account attempt to feed the animals! There are kennel facilities, toilets and a picnic area to be found before
you embark on your safari drive and its well worth making use of these if you have children. You don’t want to have any toilet traumas whilst driving through the lion enclosure!
There were plenty of young staff around to deal with any queries and about 6/7 lanes to cater for the large number of visitors and their cars. On the dot of 10am we were allowed to enter the park itself. The website and guidebook recommend that you allow 45mins to 1hr for the safari drive and I’m sure that we took about 50 minutes. Your ticket also allows you to drive through as many times as you wish.
The first animals we saw were zebra and Ankole cattle…a nice gentle introduction for the faint-hearted! Then much excitement followed our sighting of a hippopotamus languishing in his pond. We were able to wait for a few minutes to see him surface for air and the children were thrilled! They were a bit worried when we came upon our next species…the White Rhino. These huge beasts look so ponderous and indestructible, our MPV would certainly be no match for one should they become agitated! Luckily they seemed to have had a good breakfast, or perhaps it was too early to be irritated by intruders. It was reassuring to see that there were several landrover/jeep vehicles posted throughout our trip with keepers who kept a careful eye on both animals and tourists.
Next we saw some beautiful Oryx with gracefully curving horns and the brown barking Sitatunga. Then it was into the realm of the Big Cats.
The safety precautions seemed strangely contradictory throughout the safari drive. At one point you’d have a double gate system with 30ft high mesh fencing and then you’d see a keeper in a small shed, obviously monitoring the animals but sitting with the door and windows wide open!
Anyway, to enter the Big Cat section you have to pass through the aforementioned double gate system. I suppose that this also serves the purpose of regulating the number of cars in this very popular area of the park.
By this time Megan was feeling a bit miffed….all the animals had been on the other side of the car and she felt a bit hard done by to say the least. What now approached certainly made up for that! Four Siberian Tigers! One was restricted behind a fenced enclosure but was so close to the road (and Megan) that this didn’t detract from the experience. The remaining 3 were hiding in the undergrowth but clearly visible. What magnificent animals and the car was full of oooohs and aaaaahs and ‘looooooook!!’. The Woburn tigers are part of a European breeding program which aims to helps to ensure the survival of these beautiful beasts.
Moving swiftly on we then entered the 40-acre lion reserve. These animals were proving popular with other visitors and everyone had stopped to take in the sight of the head of the pride resting by the side of the road. The Woburn lions are believed to be descended from a sub species that once lived amongst the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, this sub species is now unfortunately extinct. The little members of our party were speechless as the adult male hauled himself upright and sauntered across the road right in front our car. Any closer and he would have been sitting in the spare seat!
I was wondering what on earth we would be seeing next which could hold our attention and was not disappointed. A pack of Timber wolves were enjoying breakfast and arguing noisily over the choicest portions. The Black Bears entertained us with their antics, playing with a tyre and enjoying the warm August sunshine.
I have to say though, that we were all disappointed with the monkeys…or lack of. I had really been hoping for one of those close encounters that you can experience at Longleat with their troop of Rhesus monkeys, but it was not to be. Mind you, heaven only knows what they might have done to the car.
The children were very impressed with the elephants and giraffes as we came towards the conclusion of the safari drive. We spent quite a while just watching the giraffes reaching up their long necks to eat their hay and talking about them. I think that these are animals with which children are very familiar and it’s wonderful for them to be seen in real life. Then a gradual wind down with camels, more zebras and the Addax – another species of antelope which is extinct in the wild.
The guidebook was quite useful throughout our drive, giving short snippets of information about the animals themselves and Woburn’s role as custodian of these species. Overall I felt the safari was quite good, you could certainly see the animals and the more ‘exciting’ species were well located through the drive….if only there’d been some monkeys!
The end of the tour leads you onto the Wild World Leisure area. Here you can leave your car and wander round several enclosures on foot. There are restaurants, a couple of playgrounds, some fairground rides for small children, a gift shop, toilet facilities, train ride and the Swan Lake. You can also find a huge maze here, cut into the fields of maize adjacent to the Park. It’s only available during the summer holidays and this year is cut in the shape of a rhino and baby. You can access the maze from outside the safari park and entrance costs about £3.00. You’re given a long stick with a flag on top, which you can wave if you get lost. There were plenty of staff on hand to keep an eye on you too.
We stopped and decided to have a quick look around to see what was on offer. Our children soon found the Tiny Tots Safari Trail..a soft play area supervised by a member of the Woburn staff. This was a great place for them to get rid of any excess energy. Next we moved on to see the sea lions and penguins whilst waiting for the Monkey Business enclosure to open.
Monkey Business contains a troop of Squirrel monkeys…tiny, adorable and very agile. You can enter their enclosure and walk amongst them. Megan was really looking forward to this and we put off having our lunch so that we could see the monkeys being fed. Unfortunately the visit wasn’t as interactive as we’d hoped. On entering the enclosure you are informed that these monkeys can bite and you should not try to touch them or any of the fencing/ropes because of feces and urine contaminating them. For Megan, at 2 ½, this was absolute torture….here were some cuddly looking little furry beasts within touching distance and she wasn’t allowed to. She was even reprimanded by one of the staff for touching the fence, which ruined the experience for her.
Not to worry, after a picnic lunch we walked through the Australian Walkabout feature where she had the chance to actually stroke a wallaby. Then we hand fed the lorikeets in Rainbow Landing. It made her day, despite being poo’d on by the birds! I’d like to add here that there are numerous washbasins located around the park, with soap and warm water so that you can clean up after any ‘encounters’.
Other attractions included the sealion show, birds of prey demonstrations and elephant encounter. There are goats, sheep, llamas and ponies and an area where marmosets range freely. You can have a close up ‘animal encounter’ or take a trip in a safari truck. We certainly didn’t have time to see or do everything but managed to do all that we wanted, including a ride on the Swan boats, before it was time to leave. We had brought our own picnic lunch as well, but the restaurant is Les Routiers accredited and certainly seemed reasonably priced with a tempting menu. The toilet facilities were clean and well equipped and first aid is available from qualified members of staff and St John’s Ambulance volunteers.
Our visit took place over the August Bank holiday and the Park certainly became quite crowded during the afternoon. I’m very glad that we arrived early for the safari drive because I think that this made for a better experience as well. The children certainly enjoyed themselves….there was a good mixture of activities and experiences for them and Rhianna definitely didn’t want to leave. I think that the park would also be a good day out for older children but probably not teenagers; in fact the visitors we saw were mainly families with young children (0-10yrs).
Entrance costs vary depending on whether it’s high season – the first week in June and July 19th to September 3rd, or low season (any other time between March 9th and October 27th). Adults pay £12.50 or £13.50, children between the ages of 3 and 15 pay £9 or £10, OAP’s are £9.50 or £10.50 and children under 3 are free.
There are also some reductions for families with more than one paying child as well as single adults with children. You can also book online, although this should be done a few days before you intend to visit and would be a good way to bypass the queues.
Other packages on offer include birthday parties, ‘be a keeper for the day’, VIP ‘behind the scenes tour’ and ‘elephant experience’.
Further information can be gleaned from the website at www.lynx.net.uk/woburn/home.asp or you can phone for further information on 1525 290407.
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Sep 8th, 2002
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