Saturday Whipsnade Zoo Outing

Having had to remain indoors for such a long time it was a necessity to get out and with the sun shining it was a really good excuse to visit Whipsnade Zoo. We went to the hairdresser's in  Shenley Brook End, Arcarna, as Carol wanted to book an appointment. She got one for Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock. From there we went to Morrison's to put fuel in the car, and remembering that the new car is a diesel and to not put the wrong fuel in the tank. Having done that we drove towards the A5 as we went to Whipsnade south towards Fenny Stratford when Carol said she needed a toilet. We could have gone into Dobbie's garden centre but ended up at the McDonald's on the roundabout on the A5. The traffic lights weren't operating so it was somewhat dangerous as this is a large roundabout with many roads leading in and out and it depended on other cars being sensible and allowing other vehicles to enter and leave without trying to take advantage. Having negotiated the roundabout and got into the side-road which is how you enter the McDonald's carpark, we noticed that it wasn't lit up and the found that the site, which also includes a Shell petrol station, was not operating so assumed that the fact that the traffic lights were not working the whole area was dark due to a power cut. We went into the McDonald's building and the staff were sitting at a table, no doubt unable to do any work with the fact that there was no electricity. Carol managed to use the toilet and we then returned to the car and drove back towards the A5, having to negotiate the heavy traffic that was backing up along the road towards Aylesbury and managed to squeeze in and then back onto the A5 and south towards Dunstable and Whipsnade.

The zoo opens at 10.00 am. but we were there at around 10.20, and managed to drive in without too much trouble. There weren't a lot of people so finding a place to park at the various stops around the zoo was easy and the fact that it was sunny and warm made it virtually perfect conditions to see many of the animals. We drove through the Passage Through Asia 'drive-through' which has a wide variety of animals within it such as deer, camels and other animals. Many of the deer were lying down which we have never seen before. We decided to not take too many photographs as we already have plenty. Having driven through this enclosed area we came out and went towards the elephants paddock. A couple of months ago we were at Whipsnade we visited the day after H.M. Queen visited to open the new Elephant Care Centre, an enormous building perfectly equipped to house elephants and with a viewing platform. Many of the animals houses at Whipsnade have been up-graded to include areas where you can see the animals at close quarters. This has been done at the giraffe house where there is a platform which means you see them up close and personal, virtually at giraffe-eye level. A couple of the female elephants were close to the fence at their paddock, two with their calves, one is called Elizabeth after the Queen and born close to either the Queen's wedding anniversary or her jubilee or when she visited. We met a lady-Z.S.L. volunteer who spoke to use about the elephants and had an elephant tooth to show us. Quite heavy and she explained how elephant's teeth grow from the back of the mouth and are replaced over several years. The tooth was like a mill stone with a rough surface which would be perfect for chewing grass and other vegetation. Apparently another female elephant, called Donna, is pregnant but we weren't told when the new baby will be born. Probably quite some time as elephants are pregnant for near-enough two years.

We went into the Wild Bite Café which is just opposite the tiger enclosure and very near the pelicans and flamingos. We had hot chocolate and a slice of very nice lemon drizzle cake which we shared, along with sandwiches. We didn't eat all of the cake so wrapped it in paper serviette to take home with us to eat later. No doubt we'll be back for another visit quite soon.

A bit of a wander around the zoo until we decided to leave and drive back to Milton Keynes. Fortunately the power had returned when we got to the roundabout on the A5 near Fenny Stratford and the McDonalds looked as it was up and running as normal although we drove past.