Longleat

We spent a lazy Saturday at Longleat this weekend. It isn't far from Bristol and we were pleased after arriving quite a bit later than intended (sleep in and long lazy breakfast are our excuses) that the ticket allows us to go back and see bits we didn't see on Saturday. That took the pressure off time wise and so we spent a great deal of time wandering around the safari park and then driving through the parts we weren't allowed to walk (eg home to rhinos, lions, tigers etc). The safari park is laid out quite well, with lots of information about the animals and some interesting trivia along the way which always appeals to me eg.

• a snail can sleep for three years. 
• slugs have four noses and leeches have 32 brains. 
• a blue whale has blood vessels so large that a person could swim in them. 
• bats always turn left when leaving their cave. 
• bees have 5 eyes and no ears. 
• a mouse has the same number of neck bones as a giraffe. 
• the collective name for a group of rhinoceros is ‘crash’.
• 33% of a humans DNA is the same as a daffodils. 

The area has quite a lot of history associated with it - not surprising really - and we will go back and look at the house and the few other bits and pieces we didn't have time to see on another day. In the early 13th century the area was occupied by an augusitine monk who lived on the priory that is now the safari park. 300 years later along came Queen Elizabeth I - the first royal visitor and then almost 200 years later Capability Brown was asked to use his green fingers on the landscape. The gardens, lake, rolling hills and a forest are fairly typical of other gardens he has designed. Not long after that the house became haunted by the ghost of the wife of the Second Viscount of Weymouth -the Green Lady (Lady Louisa Carteret) who mourns her murdered lover. Thomas Thynne inherited the house from his great uncle and he was rather spoilt and obnoxious child from what I have read.  He first married when he was 20 - but that didn't last long cos he decided to tour Europe without her. She died (probably not from a broken heart) and two years later he married Lady Louisa - she had 3 boys as quickly as nature would allow and died soon after the third one had arrived. Soon afterwards Thomas left Longleat (hopefully with his three sons) and the house fell into disrepair. So, what about the murdered lover?  In 1915 the owners decided to install central heating - not a bad idea given the winters England has.  A skeleton was discovered and all it was wearing was some boots made in the 18th century - they think that he was the footman and the Louisa's lover - murdered by Thomas after he found out about the love affair. There are other ghosts. That of Sir John Thynne, the first owner of Longleat. He turned the run down priory into his home but just after the renovations were completed in the mid 1500's the house burnt down. Not long after Sir John died in 1580 and his ghost is seen to wander the halls late at night with the third ghost also called John (who was killed during World War I - tour guides have seen him reading books in the library and have mistaken him for a visitor). Lets hope that the 2 John's and Louisa party sometimes when the stars are out and all good people are asleep in bed.  Anyway, back to the living...
In 1966 the first lions arrived at Longleat, and later came the tortoises, tapirs, camels, goats, gorillas, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, sealions, flamingos, pelicans ... a bit like Noahs Ark arriving two by two. Longleat was the first safari park to open outside Africa. The locals weren't too keen about lions wandering in their back yard but the objections must have been overruled cos that is exactly what they are doing now.  First of all there is the white rhino standing in the field peacefully chewing their meal of grass. Although, they look cuddly in their oversized skin they are apparently quite dangerous - can't see but can smell more 30 metres away (even if we use odourless deodorant) - they wouldn't eat me though cos they are vegetarians!! Anyway, the rhino isn't white - his name comes from a mistranslation of the African word 'wid' which means wide in relation to his mouth.

Then there are the camels - oh so comical and looking nothing like the ones that we rode in the Sahara (never again by the way!).  There are two species at Longleat  - the Bactrian (think B for two humps). They have short legs for walking on hilly ground and a long neck.  They moult and their hair comes off in lumps which give them quite a comical appearance as you can see from the photos.  And then there is the Dromedary (think D for one hump) who are longer and thinner than the other sort and have feet with two toes on each to help spread the weight when they are walking over soft sand.

 

We then went for a little boat ride on the lake and watched the sea lions chasing food.  As soon as the boat leaves the jetty its a signal to the sea lions that it is feeding time - the snacks are small as they are only allowed 3.5 kilos of fish a day and they would get this easily particularly during the peak season.  The sea lions (who have ears by the way which makes them different to their seal cousins) are fed salt capsules so that they can live o.k. in fresh water.  The boat took us past Gorilla Island (could be the next Peter Jackson movie) where Nico lives alone with his 35 inch flat screen tv.  He is a widower and is living quite happily on the little island with his tv for company and entertains himself by throwing things at the sea lions when they get quite near - sounds a bit like a cantakerous old man.  When Nico and his wife moved there many years ago they were given a little black and white tv. but after suggesting they preferred colour they now have the most modern - better than our own entertainment centre.  I forgot to ask if he used the remote control.  Anyway, all this information was given to us by a wonderful young girl with the most colourful hairstyle (I always wished I had the courage to do something like it).  To finish the day we had a little train ride around the pelican houses.