| 10/4/05: Banham
Zoo
I'm not normally a fan of zoos, as seeing
wild animals in cages upsets me - no cage is big enough for something
that should be free....specially when the cages are inadequate
and not stimulating for its occupants.
However, Banham Zoo is THE best zoo I've ever been to - I was
staggered at the quality of the large enclosures, the build of
them, the stimulating platforms, trees, hills, holes, shelters,
ropes, and above all SPACE. The sleeping enclosures from the cages
were sparkling clean, airy and with comfortable sleeping areas,
and many of them had large reinforced glass windows in so you
could get up close and personal with a whole range of beautiful
wild animals you normally only see on the TV. I sat next to a
sleeping 37 stone male tiger - inches away from it's huge hulking
body, and it suddenly awoke, raised its head up and I stared into
its massive green eyes and watched as the pupils went from black
to near pinpoints, as for a few terrifying seconds it looked right
into me - even behind the glass I was terrified yet exhilarated
at the same time - what a fantastic creature, and how proud I
was that we stupid humans have hunted 95% of them into extinction
in only 100 years.
There was an awesome falconry display featuring a bald eagle
that when released, promptly shot off round the arena into a crowd
of rapidly scarpering crows, picked off an injured one and pinned
it to the ground, while the other crows screeched and circled
above, half mobbing the eagle as it sheltered its prey with its
wings. The keepers made a valiant rescue attempt and the crow
managed to escape and hobble off into the bushes, I suspect with
broken wings unfortunately. Next up were 7 or 8 vultures, that
skimmed the grass with their low-flying then shot over our heads
to the keeper behind us, they were like living Hercules planes
with their heavy bulks hanging below their outstretched wings.
They even hopped amongst our legs looking for scraps, true to
their scavenging nature. They soared and skimmed above our heads
with no fear at all, it was fab.
The feeding talk for the Cheetahs was great too, they came right
up to the fence and watched the keeper as he talked and fed them
chunks of meat - they actually meowed at him like little cats
too, it seemed oddly cute for such big cat predators.
Best of all for me was their RAT ROOM - a huge
room done up as a stable block and with a glass window from floor
to ceiling - FULL OF BROWN AND BLACK RATS - males,
females, little babies, all scampering around....not for the faint
hearted or rat-phobic!! You can feed them grain down a tube that
comes out into the room, and watch as they all scamper to the
end of the tube in a mass of brown fur and grabbing paws, in one
bit rattie feeding frenzy. Makes my large rat cage look like a
box room!
If you are ever in Norfolk then Banham Zoo is a must, the high
standard and quality and cleanliness of the animal accommodation
is second to none - the entry fee seems steep at £10 for
adults, but it is worth EVERY PENNY, specially when you know your
money is going towards such a high standard of care. Curse me
for forgetting my camera!!! |
 |
13/2/05: Eden Camp
The best WW2 history museum I've been to yet - a restored POW
camp featuring 31 huts, each hut packed with displays, info, photos
and memorabilia from WW2, going all the way up to the present
conflicts. Recreations of bombed-out London streets, wartime shops,
housing interiors, a POW escape tunnel - even the interior of
a submarine!! it was brilliant. They also had sounds and smells
too, so be prepared to get shelled when you walk in one hut, or
surrounded in smoke in another, or singing along with Bing Crosby
in another. There was a hell of a lot of text to read too, so
much that we felt overloaded by the end of our visit! Also a good
selection of military vehicles and weapons. It took us over 3
hours to get round it all, definitely worth a visit! http://www.edencamp.co.uk/.
Click HERE for more pics. |
