When the Werners visited England a couple of months ago, they mentioned Longleat House was a fabulous place to spend the day. Bruce and Leesa had never heard of it so we were going strictly on reviews and wishes. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but it was a great experience. Some of the property has been set aside as a drive-through safari park. We were given a disc with information about the animals, a map, and sent on our way.
The first animals we saw were ones I didn't recognize, but they walked right past our car. I guess our safari had begun.
We found the giraffes next. At first we didn't know how close we could get so we walked up to an enclosure on a hill to see the baby.
However, once we walked into the park we realized we could get much closer.
We just missed the giraffe feeding time but McKenzie found a dropped leaf to feed one anyway.
It already felt like a safari with giraffes and zebras wandering the grounds.
We were able to walk through the lemur enclosure. Those guys weren't shy at all! They ran down the path right towards us.
The tortoise that was there would have run right over Cambrie had she not stepped out of the way.
The next zone was what Kelton was looking forward to most, the monkey enclosure. Before entering through the gates there are a bunch of warning signs, "Windows must be rolled up at all times." "Monkeys may damage your car." "Enter at your own risk." You know, just the basic warnings of life and death. (Ironically, there were more signs for the monkeys than the lions later...) Well, we didn't take the bypass but instead went right through the middle. There were sooo many monkeys! Monkeys were climbing on the logs, trees, through the grass, and yes, even on other cars. We saw evidence of their destructive powers, stashed antennae and windshield wipers. Many of the monkeys we saw were moms carrying around their babies on their bellies.
Well, we made it all the way through the enclosure without one monkey climbing on our car. Kelton wasn't satisfied so we flipped around and did the loop again. This time he got his wish. The first monkey grabbed onto our rear windshield wiper and pulled itself up onto our roof. A second monkey somehow climbed along the side of our car and perched on our sideview mirror. Hooray! Mission accomplished.
I was relieved that we left without any damage to our car, unlike the cars we saw where the monkeys knew exactly how to pull off their aerials. A pick-up truck had a worse time of it as its bed was full of things for the monkeys to play with. They swarmed that truck and left with webbing, straps, and various other things.
On our way to the grasslands we passed Annie the elephant, camels, and a herd of deer.
We were able to feed the deer and everyone had a chance. Daxton first tried to feed the deer without any food in his hand. The deer licked it and made it super slobbery, but didn't bite him. Next time he made sure he had food in his hand.
It was really weird having the deer just stick their heads into our car windows like we were all old friends.
We passed white rhinos, antelope, and pelicans before moving to the big cats area.
I felt like I was living a scene from Jurassic Park with the towering barbed wire fences, double sliding gates, and a ranger who had to stay in their Jeep. 
Inside we saw two herds of lions, cheetahs, and Amur tigers. The lions were the easiest to spot so there were a lot of cars hanging out by them. We saw two males and a handful of females hiding in the shade.
Once we were done with the big cats we made out way back to the grounds closer to the house to find some lunch, then wandered through the adventure zone. King Arthur's mirror maze was a blast! They did such a good job keeping the mirrors clean that more than once I ran into the glass expecting it to be a doorways. Poor Daxton, I can't even count how many times he ran into a wall.
We also found a Bat Cave. This picture is for you Bat Sam.
Inside were a bunch of Egyptian fruit bats. Well, I've seen bats and I know enough to understand that they are not going to suck my blood. However, when they flew straight towards me time and time again I almost squealed. Daxton thought they were awesome. He pointed and said, "mouse!" Well, the ranger in there thought that was the funniest thing he had heard all day and officially declared Daxton to be his favorite patron of the day.
We found a train to ride through the park.
We found a small animal zone with parrots, butterflies, rabbits, and snakes. I had no doubt that Cambrie would want to hold the snake. I was surprised however that Kelton wanted to hold it too.
Longleat boasts that they have one of the largest hedge mazes in the UK. The sign says it typically takes 20-45 min to make it through. Well, my arms didn't think they could carry Daxton 45 min. through that maze so I crossed my fingers that we wouldn't get lost. Cambrie led the way and decided to always turn left when she came to an intersection. When we made it to the center tower in 11 min. I was shocked. Was that really the right way? We climbed up to admire the view and I didn't see anything else that looked like the center, so I'm going to have to say that we made it in record time. Well done sweetie!
Our last stop was the playground adventure zone. It was another great playground for the kids with ladders, castles, ropes, slides, trampolines, balance games, and swings. By far the favorite attraction was the drop slide. Theoretically you are supposed to be 1.2m high to slide down that slide, but we sent Kelton anyway. To slide down the slide you had to sit on the edge and dangle your feet below you, the lean forward just enough that you free fall for a bit before the slide catches you. The kids loved it! Daxton of course was screaming that he couldn't do it himself. We played until the gates closed. When reviews said to stay all day, they weren't kidding!
Sundial says it's time to go!
Here is Longleat House. Leesa and I toured it while the kids were playing, but with no photos allowed you'll just have to believe me that it was just as grand inside as out.
