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.

900th Post: Elephants at Whipsnade

We've been waiting for two new exhibits to open at Whipsnade Zoo. They have been building the new Elephant Care building for about a year. Whenever we've visited over that period we've seen the work going on. Also, the brand new African Hunting Dog's enclosure near where the wolves used to be. This section opened on 1st April and then on Tuesday H.M. Queen visited to open the elephant's centre. There was a mention of this on Facebook, via the Z.S.L. website and their Facebook page and on both local television news programmes, Anglia's About Anglia and BBC1's 'Look East' did items, even though not very long. So on Wednesday we decided to visit.

The journey down the A5 was fine until we reached the outskirts of Dunstable. There was quite a queue of traffic and it moved exceptionally slowly until we reached the set of traffic lights and had to make a right turn towards Dunstable Downs. A rather frustrating journey and it wasn't too clear what was causing such long delays.

We arrived at Whipsnade at around 11, having been shopping at Aldi earlier. The weather has been fine and sunny, but it was actually quite cold, so we had to wear jackets. It can be a good deal colder up on the Downs where Whipsnade is situated. It was probably ideal weather for visiting the zoo because a lot of the animals were more active than usual. If it's too hot they tend to hide away in the shade. The place was very busy, with long queues at the entrance. One advantage of Carol being a Fellow of Z.S.L. is that we not only don't have to pay for entrance, but we can drive in (also without paying) which means we can drive around within the park, thereby reducing the amount of walking we would otherwise have to do as the place is quite large and the enclosures which house the animals are a fair distance apart.

We couldn't park the car where we usually park, near the bears. We drove round the zoo until we got to the area near the tigers. A lot of the paths around that area had been closed off with metal fences. I presume they had been left over from the previous day when the Queen had been to open the Elephant Care Centre. Regardless of whether these fences were in place, people were ignoring them and walking around them. We went towards the elephant enclosures and found a great many people milling around. Whipsnade had been used a few months ago for the BBC1 television programme " The Big Painting Challenge" which was shown on Sunday evenings. The contestants had to do paintings of the flamingos as well as the elephants and we knew, from watching the show, whereabout they had set things up. It's strange how so many of the places we've been to over the years get shown on television. Sky did a similar show on their Arts channel and the locations for their landscape shows were done at a lot of National Trust properties we've been to, such as Stowe Landscape Gardens which is a round a 20-minute drive away from Milton Keynes. Well, if nothing else, these programmes have put these places on the map and no doubt have encouraged people to visit them. No doubt the fact that Her Majesty coming to Whipsnade to open the Elephant Care Centre prompted many of today's visitors to visit the zoo. We then walked over towards the new African Hunting Dogs enclosure which was opened at the beginning of April. It looks somewhat sparce and obviously needs more landscaping. I think they introduced the pack of dogs to get them accustomed to their new home before making to many changes. There is a viewing platform which allows you to see the dogs without having too much obstruction by fencing or screening. We learned that the Elephant Centre wasn't open until 1 o'clock which we didn't realise when we came into the zoo.

It always amuses us to see people who insist on taking photographs of themselves rather than the animals. This obsession with taking selfies is crazy. Why do people spend so much time and money visiting these places, and then end up taking photographs of each other and not the place they are visiting? We've seen this so many times at either the zoos or National Trust properties and elsewhere. Just idiotic, to say the least. Just so they can post them on such social media sites as Facebook.

We needed some sort of refreshment so went to the Wild Bite Café. We were more than a little shocked to find it so busy. And noisy, with children screaming and one annoying child creating such a loud noise I felt like leaving immediately. Carol ordered our coffee and sandwiches and I had to find a table to sit at. Not easy. It really seems that they ought to sort this out, build new facilities or at least provide more space for seating. I would imagine the place was busy because of the fact it's the Easter Holidays and people seeing the Queen on television opening the elephant house.

We had a drive around the perimeter of the zoo, visiting the shop at the entrance and having an ice-cream and then left for home. No doubt we'll be returning later in the year.