We have been plunged into Winter. Wet and dreary weekends made even harder with a toddler.
So when the sun is shining we have promised to make the most of it.
Last Saturday we put our annual passes to use and visited Howletts Wildlife Animal Park
We took our own little baby bear too
With the rain due to come crashing down after lunchtime, we made our way straight to the African Elephants.
Creeping closely past the Sumatran Tiger, who was happy to give us prance up and down his grounds.
The Tigers are the smallest subspecies of Tiger and two can be found at Howletts.
They are with Howletts due to their homes being endangered because of expansion of palm oil and acacia plantations.
Keep walking (or stopping for potty training breaks), down the hill and past the Red River Hogs which bathe in mud and dirt on either side of the path.
When you reach the bottom of the hill you will be able to smell the Elephants, so you know you’re close.
Take a right and with one straight walk you end up with the beautiful African Elephants.
Howletts has four large paddocks for the Elephants to choose from which offer grass, mud, sand and concrete.
We made it just in time for the Elephant talk.
We listened on while Pollyanna took the opportunity to climb around.
The best thing about visiting at this time of year is you feel as though you have the park all to yourself – even at the weekends.
Alfie had his bottle whilst Pollyanna grazed on some snacks.
Alfresco lunch.
Whilst watching the Elephants kiss.
With the rain due to hit us, we decided to make our way to the Gorillas next.
Pollyanna wanted to ride on the tractor but this was as close as she could get.
If you fancy a safari visit their sister park Port Lympne.
Unfortunately, everything I am wearing is last years River Island but I have linked to similar below;
This was our first outing since we had started potty training.
It resulted in two accidents as soon as we made it through the doors and a very mismatched outfit, but we didn’t care.
A short walk to the gorillas took longer than usual with a bear that wanted to climb everywhere.
We soon managed to bribe her into our new duo pushchair by Quinny, more on that in another post.
The deal was I had to run up the hill and we would see if she could catch me.
Of course she did.
The park was glorious showing off its best Autmanal-self.
Unfortunately, we only managed to catch a glimpse of one Western Lowland Gorilla.
I don’t blame them, it’s too cold for showing off.
The Aspinal Foundation has led the way in breeding these Gorillas.
They have released Gorillas born at Howletts and Port Lympne into protected forests.
After dodging the rain, we decided to call it a day. Which is why we love the annual passes, we don’t feel like we have to spend the whole day at the parks. We can pop in for an afternoon just to say hello to our favourite animals.
Or sleep through it all…
To find out more about both parks and The Aspinall Foundation, click here.
