I've been 'Safari Parking' since before you where born

Showing my age with that Simpson parody title.

But this week we visited Port Lympne Reserve

And O-M-Goodness it was such an amazing day out.

It's set in some lovely grounds and there is so much space, the little one could really get a head of speed up running about and exploring.

They have such a wide array of animal we started in the part with the big cats. I was a tiny bit unsure of about the cages as there was only one wire mesh guard between them and us. 

I am sure it is sturdy and secure, but when you see such a big and powerful animal pacing. Looking for a way out as he might be a bit peckish and fancy's a bit of Human Rump, a little voice in the back of your head is saying are you sure that's secure enough lol...

But the area it is set in is beautiful and we had such a nice day for it, and as it is set at different elevations at the top you could see all the way to Romney Marsh and the sea, pretty... 

You also get to go on these great Safari Trucks a lot bigger than the one I went on Safari in when I was in Nairobi back in 2010.

Although I would not recommend if you have back problems is was a bit bumpy and the seats were very hard - thanks goodness for all the cooking and eating I do,  as I have a bit of extra padding lol

So lots and lots of animal - Ostriches

   

Fantastical Amazing Rhinos, these are such beautiful creatures, still can't believe they are killing them in the wild.

It 2016 people, magic Rhino horn potion do not work, just get to the proper doctor ask for the little blue pills and it will all be okay. 

Can't remember what these animal were call some kind of antelope - I am probably so, so wrong and as someone is reading this they are shouting at the screen..

Giraffes, I love these animals, think they are cool, like how nature solves problems. 

"The food we like to eat it up high?" 

"hmm tricky"

"I've got it long necks" 

As well as having the huge reserve where the animal roam free, they've also got some lovely habitats for the other animals.

They have meerkats, now as I big Disney Fan I alway think of Timon, out of Timon and Pumba - I'm sorry I will never see them as the advert ones - "Simples" eh.. 

Although he did throw me some shades as you can see from the picture above lol.

As I am such a mega geek I found the enclosure with the Fossa in them and because of "Madagascar" the animated movie I started shouting "FOSSA, FOSSA" and pretending to run away, much to the bemusement of my son and the un-amusement of my Husband. 

Yes there was other people about but I don't care. 

They also have a Gorilla enclosure it actually really nice, but as I think it was such a hot afternoon they preferred it inside. They had this amazing area which had slides and rope swing for them.

I know there is nothing better than the wild, but seeing as their natural habitat is being eroded and they are being killed. I find, if they are in captivity, but it's done in a great way like this is, I think that it can sometime be the best thing. To make sure that they are around in years to come. 

Oh and I saw a monkey with a beard, no really story just thought it was cool. 

Oh wise old monkey tell me your secrets - he said nothing, kept all his secrets to himself lol. 

So fantastic time seeing all the different animals 

The Lions 

The Tigers 

The Bears - OH MY!!

Sorry had to do that!!


Along with the Animal they have a fab Dinosaur forest.

Where they have proper size (well I can only assume they are proper size I admit I am not very knowledgble about the Dinos so big apologies to any paleontologists if I'm wrong) Models of a lot of Dinosaurs.

They are split into different time periods and there is a lot of information dotted around the place.  Although seeing I had a toddler who likes to run about it was hard enough getting pics, I had no time to read anything.

Oh they also have them up in the trees to so make sure you look up.

I though it was a really cool idea and something a bit different to come across.

I think the little one was a bit unsure of them to start off with. 

But he soon came round and decided to make a few friends. 

My verdict on the day - aabsolutelybrilliant.

Now I have a fussy toddler who get board very easily and normally if I can spend up to 2 hours anywhere I consider it a win (At the cinema we lasted 5 minutes it was a nightmare) at this place we arrived at 10.30am and the little one was still going strong when we left at 4pm (well strong in spirit, he slept all the way home).

The only slight thing, and the reason there is no picture was the food, we brought a packed lunch for the little man and we had some of their fast food, Burger and Chips. Have to say I wasn't impressed but to give them a bad food review, I think would be to do them a dis-service.

I wouldn't rate what I had, but going around the park and seeing all the signs it looks like they do amazing food. They have a hotel onsite that does by the looks of it a fantastic afternoon tea as well as having a full service restaurant.

They even have Africa lodges you can hire with a personal chef to cook you dinner.

Both those offering sound amazing, so I'm just going to say I had an off meal and next time I go I will make sure I try one of the nicer places or get a night at a lodge before I properly judge.

So my advice is go and have a great day out.

Wow Malaysia -Part 2 Batu & Birds

Doing so much on my trip I need to break up my holiday post into lots of parts 

Thursday 26th - Batu Caves

The hubby and I headed off to the Batu caves while the little one got to spend the day with his Nana.

We got a tube to KL Central then on to a train. As many of you know I am part of a little train gang (see Amok in Amsterdam post for some of our antics) but I don't think we could get up to our usual shenanigans with these restrictions.

Transport is so cheap it was less that £2.50 for the both of us to get there and the Batu caves is the last stop so it wasn't that difficult to navigate. 

It was a hop skip and a jump away from the station and you are greated  by a huge statue of Hanuman (apologies if this is wrong I admit my knowledge of this is very limited) 

It's then a slight walk to the bottom of the main cave temple area.

It's up a lot of stairs, oh and what I didn't realise is women can't have there legs showing. Actually if I thought about it beforehand I probably could have worked it out as it is a place of worship. Only excuse apart from being an ingorant tourist is the heat it was around 34 degrees (90+ degrees Fahrenheit).

Luckily they are obviously used to dealing with this as they had sarongs you could hirer for a 5 ringgit deposit as that worked out to a £1 so we let them keep it. 

Going back to the heat for a minute, lots of stairs in direct sunlight was hard going we did need to stop a few times and luckily there's a place to get water at the top as I think I lost my body weight in sweat getting up there.

It is worth the climb the caves are just stunning you can really see why they made it into a temple the part where it opens up and let's in the sun it just breathtaking. 

The caves are also home to wildlife there are a few chickens and roosters.

But mainly Monkeys that roam free around the caves ( the do like to mug people for food, so keep a tight grip on your bag). 

They are fascinating to watch as they bound, jump, run, and leap around the cavernous space. Their Chattering fills the are and you feel like they are the guardians of this amazing space. 

After a bit of contemplation and a lot of Monkey watching we headed back down the steps. About a flight of steps down there's a side area into another cave the 'Dark Cave' where they had other animals and after reading this sign I decided against the tour.

As some of you might enjoy it but going into the darkness surrounded by bats (you could hear their chattering from the mouth of the chasm) you could also run into a trapdoor spider, is Not my thing in anyway shape or form.  

They do have more accessible caves if you are less able to tackle the steps. 

In the cave right next to the train station we came across this guy who seemed to be enjoying himself. 

The train ride back was welcoming with the nice sit down and the air conditioning.

At KL central where we changed I found this cut out and couldn't resist a shot for the train gang. 

As we didn't eat at the Batu caves, we where thinking about it but after seeing a woman getting expertly robbed by the monkey contingence we decided it was probably safer to find food in another location. 

As we had to head back through KLCC on the way home we decided to eat there and we had a Nandos. Okay I know I can have one back home, but they do have a Mayal twist to there offering.

Firstly you order at the table instead of going up to the counter. They didn't have any 'Red Pepper Dip' like they have at home so we tried the 'Vegetables Dip' it was quite nice with its spice twist. 

I had the same main I order in the UK, a chicken wrap (hot). The Malay one comes in more of a Roti/Naan bread rather than a tortilla wrap and the greens are chunky and cubed.

Also I don't know what they've done to the Mango but it's not happy lol

So even though it's a meal I could get back home I enjoyed the local spin on the food. 

The rest of the day was spent with the little man in the pool.

That evening we went to a restaurant in  the outside area surrounding the dancing fountains at the KLCC.

It was called 'Limoncello' and they made their own homemade Limoncello. Now being a few thousand miles away from Italy (I have sampled limoncello when I went to Rome) I decided to give it a go. To accompany my Prawn and courgette (zucchini) carbonara. 

 It was actually very good.

The meal was tasty and it was accompanied nicely by a cold glass of Pinot. I do like eating alfresco in the warm night air.

The little man also enjoyed watching the colour and the lights of the dancing fountains.

Friday 27th - Bird Park

My husband and father-in-law went to the Malaysia Grand Prix practice days so me and the Mum-in-law decided to take the little chap to the 'KL Bird Park' we got the tube to Pasar Seni and then proceeded to walk, a big mistake. We got lost but manage to navigate ourselves to the park it was located in. 

Once in the park there was a big hill to negotiate in the mid morning heat, with a heavy pram and an uncomfortable hot baby to push about. (Not fun) 

Luckily, well depending which way you look at it, we were saved by a buggy driver who for 4 ringgits loaded up the mother-in-law the baby still in the push chair and I on the back. He then proceeded to drive around the whole park at breakneck speed pointing out places of interest as we clung on to the pram and hoped for the best.  Health and Safety isn't the same there as it is back home lol. 

We made it to the park in one piece if not just a little windswept. 

It's a lovely park with all the birds roaming free and the little one did seem to enjoy some of it and was curious of the winged inhabitants. 

Unfortunately it's located on the side of a hill so we couldn't let the little one have free rom as some of the edges are a bit steep for comfort. I think if he was a bit older and more confident with the walking it would have been perfect.

A some of the birds are beautiful.

Even if they do sneak up on you Caw and make you jump out of your skin lol

So with the little one getting irritable especially with the in and outs of getting him back in the push chair we decided to head back.

For all our sakes we got a cab for the journey home, stopping on the way to partake in a particular nice margarita (well 3 but they were little) to steel our nerves after the days events.  

Then spent a pleasent later afternoon resting before having a night in exchanging stories about our day with the boys when they got back..