After breakfast, which consisted mainly of eggs of the chocolate kind, I rounded up the kids and got them into the rusty old van for a three mile trip to the Wildlife and Dinosaur park.
http://www.visitilfracombe.co.uk/site/things-to-do/combe-martin-wildlife-and-dinosaur-park-p125713
This zoo is built on a very steep group of hills and is a great workout itself just walking the perimeter of the zoo. There were a series of shows and the show of the day for us was the two Seal Lions. The entire crowd became mesmerised as these two seal like creatures rap danced, caught rings around their necks and played copy cat with the presenter. Such intelligent sea life I have never before seen.
Then there was the lion show. These majestic creatures sauntered around their enclosures with the lofty air of royalty. Indeed they are the king of the jungle and while us humans may be at the top of the killing ladder, I wouldn't fancy a ding dong with one of these creatures without a fully loaded rifle in my hand.
For six pounds the zoo keeper gave you the privilege of feeding a chicken leg to the lion and a couple of ladies in the audience paid for this opportunity. The great beast grabbed the leg through the cage and cracked it in his mouth and swallowed it in one go as if it was a mere peanut. Yes these are fine killing creatures - majestic, brooding, arrogant and haunting. An interesting fact about these male lions is that there mane exists because they are such prolific fighters. The mane serves to protect their necks while fighting. If they become castrated during a fight, they will lose the mane and their status within the group will be lower than that of the female lions.
There were various other animals - ponies, penguins, parrots, spiders, lamas and monkeys. I am always fascinated by the meerkats and can spend hours just observing the way they behave together as a gang. I must have been wearing the same cowboy type hat as their zoo keeper because when I looked over the fence they all came running up to the gate's entranced and I had a dozen pair of eyes looking up at me - probably salivating for a juicy worm or two.
The dinosaur section consisted of real sized replicas (obviously) of various types surrounded by forestry and it reminded me of a scene from the Jurassic Park film. Every hour these models would awaken and their necks would move and their hearts seemed to beat. It was all very effective and interesting to watch.
After the zoo it was time to head back to the holiday park. A five minute walk down a steep path brought us to the Combe Martin beach. A good couple of hours was spent here for this was not your normal beach. I was taken back a few decades when my best mate and I would take off in the morning and spend all day exploring rock pools, caves and climbing various rock formations. The kids had never seen such a natural playground before and loved it all.
This night's entertainment again was bingo and afterwards the man put on a singing performance. The entertainment would not compare with what you could expect at the bigger commercial holiday camps such as Butlins or the Haven holiday parks - but we all nevertheless had a good time. This time the youngest daughter won a round and it was great to see the excitement on her little face as she shouted out BINGO and ran as fast as her thin little legs would take her to the presenter's stage. She chose this gun that was full of coloured LED lights and spurted out bubbles in rapid succession.
Peace
http://www.visitilfracombe.co.uk/site/things-to-do/combe-martin-wildlife-and-dinosaur-park-p125713
This zoo is built on a very steep group of hills and is a great workout itself just walking the perimeter of the zoo. There were a series of shows and the show of the day for us was the two Seal Lions. The entire crowd became mesmerised as these two seal like creatures rap danced, caught rings around their necks and played copy cat with the presenter. Such intelligent sea life I have never before seen.
Then there was the lion show. These majestic creatures sauntered around their enclosures with the lofty air of royalty. Indeed they are the king of the jungle and while us humans may be at the top of the killing ladder, I wouldn't fancy a ding dong with one of these creatures without a fully loaded rifle in my hand.
For six pounds the zoo keeper gave you the privilege of feeding a chicken leg to the lion and a couple of ladies in the audience paid for this opportunity. The great beast grabbed the leg through the cage and cracked it in his mouth and swallowed it in one go as if it was a mere peanut. Yes these are fine killing creatures - majestic, brooding, arrogant and haunting. An interesting fact about these male lions is that there mane exists because they are such prolific fighters. The mane serves to protect their necks while fighting. If they become castrated during a fight, they will lose the mane and their status within the group will be lower than that of the female lions.
There were various other animals - ponies, penguins, parrots, spiders, lamas and monkeys. I am always fascinated by the meerkats and can spend hours just observing the way they behave together as a gang. I must have been wearing the same cowboy type hat as their zoo keeper because when I looked over the fence they all came running up to the gate's entranced and I had a dozen pair of eyes looking up at me - probably salivating for a juicy worm or two.
The dinosaur section consisted of real sized replicas (obviously) of various types surrounded by forestry and it reminded me of a scene from the Jurassic Park film. Every hour these models would awaken and their necks would move and their hearts seemed to beat. It was all very effective and interesting to watch.
After the zoo it was time to head back to the holiday park. A five minute walk down a steep path brought us to the Combe Martin beach. A good couple of hours was spent here for this was not your normal beach. I was taken back a few decades when my best mate and I would take off in the morning and spend all day exploring rock pools, caves and climbing various rock formations. The kids had never seen such a natural playground before and loved it all.
This night's entertainment again was bingo and afterwards the man put on a singing performance. The entertainment would not compare with what you could expect at the bigger commercial holiday camps such as Butlins or the Haven holiday parks - but we all nevertheless had a good time. This time the youngest daughter won a round and it was great to see the excitement on her little face as she shouted out BINGO and ran as fast as her thin little legs would take her to the presenter's stage. She chose this gun that was full of coloured LED lights and spurted out bubbles in rapid succession.
Peace
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