On Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Saturday 30 April 2016. We head for Disney's Animal Kingdom today and take a ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari, a long wheel-based Jeep ride through a savannah area where you really are face to face with wild animals.

It's a very bumpy ride though, unnecessarily so I thought. It might be realistic but it distracts the rider from looking for the animals. There was also one point where we crossed a "collapsing" bridge with cries of alarm from the driver and I had to wonder whether we were on a safari to see animals or were we on a white knuckle ride?

For a while I struggled to see any animals, I was sitting in the middle and the seats were wide enough for five or six people, so driving around the edge of a drop that had alligators below in a pool meant nothing to me as all I could see was the opposite top edge of the pool's side.

But the animals are undoubtedly there and most are in the same environment as you are. Here a herd of wildebeest (what do you mean? Of course I've heard of wildebeest...) take in some rays. It's a far different park to the rest of them. The Disney Imagineers had no control over where the animals would be, they were not designing spectacular lines of sight or scenic vistas.

They could place watering holes and had an idea of where particular animals might be visible from the ride vehicles. There are hidden barriers such as chains or bars that hoofed animals would find hard to cross and there are barriers created by use of banks of earth, hidden troughs or rocks that just look natural. You are not likely to see a zebra being run down by a lioness or two therefore...

But when you see something like this and can't see anything that would stop it from coming right up to your vehicle, there is a certain thrill invoked.

The thrill for the elephant just wasn't as apparent, as it turned its back on us and ignored us completely. How rude...

Though it had managed to stay awake! The next animals we encountered though were to provide an even greater thrill for us.

Being in the same environment as a couple of white rhinos, with no fence or bars between you and the animals is definitely an experience.

But then the driver said "We're just going to stay here a moment whilst the female and young one cross the road. Mum is looking at us and I don't want to upset her..." Looking at the horn on the end of an animal weighing several tons and capable of running at 30 miles per hour in a straight line directly at you ... well, I didn't want him to upset her either... After all, the collective noun for rhinos is a crash!

And then we spot a pride of lions sleeping on the rocky edge of a gully.

Once again the temperature was hitting the mid 90s. Grace was still not feeling 100% and Gill and Eddie had to take her back to the resort for a while. We park hopped to the Magic Kingdom, where it turned a little overcast as we got there.

We had another turn on the stern wheeler around the island of Tom Sawyer - nope, still haven't read the book. I do however remember watching the TV show of his pal Huckleberry Hound... (note: for anyone incredulously smacking their forehead - that was a joke...)

Disney World Holiday Index

Blackpool Zoo in 1977

I'm still going through albums of muddled and random colour slides taken in what to many these days will be the dark and distant past... To a teenager, 1977 is as far back as the Battle of Hastings, but that's where we are going in this article. Er... 1977 not 1066... Even I wasn't taking photos so far back...

These days you enter the Zoo through a purpose-built snazzy entrance with the Reception building, shops, school rooms and lecture theatres and turnstiles. You come out of the turnstiles to the tortoise enclosure. Back in 1977 you entered near the old Stanley Park air park club house and observation tower. The elephants have their home next door but in 1977 they shared some of those large enclosures with the giraffes and a couple of rhinos. They were kept strictly separate of course, and the giraffes had to take turns with the rhinos to come out to play.

The tortoises had their home somewhere behind the camels if I remember rightly. This was the largest tortoise - it could easily be the same one that trundles about now in the new enclosure as they live up to 150 years! The largest male of today is called Darwin and is about 90 years old. If my photo is of the same tortoise then he was a mere youngster of around 50... He has a few more house-mates than he used to do and is probably a fair bit bigger than he was then. You can tell roughly how old a tortoise is by counting the rings on his shell segments - a bit like counting rings on a tree!

A favourite for me has always been the big cats and in 1977 the large male was called Leo and was the proud father of two cubs.

They were a bit stationary on this particular day! And I have no photos at all of their Mum from this visit, so she must have been being kept indoors.

Dad, though, was only too pleased to snooze beside his two sleepy offspring, occasionally looking round to make sure they were not under any threat.

And lastly a look at this character who was not happy at having his photograph taken...

Zoo Rhyme

The zebra are watching with interest
Cloaked in their black and white stripes

The parrots are excited and chatting
"I think there'll be trouble, oh cripes!"

The camels are watching but placid
Too much excitement can make their humps sag

And the cause of all this kerfuffle?
The lion's missus is having a nag...

On Safari at Longleat

Monday 27 May 1998. Leaving Salisbury, we headed west. We wanted to visit both Bristol and Bath and were hoping to stay somewhere near the two towns for a couple of nights.

Fran wanted to go through Longleat Safari Park if we had time. It was an hour before last admittance when we reached the entrance and the weather had turned a little dull, but remained fine.

The lions were not in a mood to entertain guests and apart from one lioness who was sitting in the shade, the rest were having a siesta.

Actually the first animals we came to were the giraffes. This was a youngster who was quite unconcerned at the visitors who had got out of their cars to watch him or her. Note for readers: even though the giraffe only has the same number of bones in its neck as a human does, it is not recommended for anyone to try this manouvre at home...

We happened along at just the right moment in the elephant enclosure as this group of young elephants crossed right in front of our car. I gave the monkey enclosure a miss, thinking that the windscreen wipers and aerials might come in handy later on...! I was quite relieved later that I hadn't gone through as we saw a couple of cars park near us in the car park whose drivers had to get out and try to straighten bent wipers...

We bought a tub of dry meal bits and Fran had oodles of fun feeding Bambi. ...or perhaps not... "It feels horrible!" she complained as I snapped away with the camera.

The wolves were a bit more co-operative than the lions, a couple of them crossing behind the car on their way to join a third who was ripping something to pieces enthusiastically. Bambi's slower brother perhaps... I remember reading somewhere that 99% of all animal life on earth dies being eaten by something else. I'd be happy to be in the remaining one percent personally! I wonder if being eaten by midges counts...

No! Before someone starts - I do not want to recall that bloody song by that wee Scottish boy!!! Too late... Google Stuart Anderson - I think that was his name. "The midges, the midges, I don't wanna kid yez..." Why should I be the only one to wake up screaming...?

Return to Wiltshire, Cotswolds and Avon 1998 Index

Blackpool Zoo

On Friday we met up with David and Jeannie and we all went to spend the day at Blackpool Zoo. It was a gorgeous day and a brilliant day out. We spent 5 hours at the zoo and had a great time. It would have cost a fortune in the days of films and developing costs!

End of words - photo flood follows. In the interests of space I've kept it strictly to one photo of each animal. You'll find the others at Flickr. There's 125 photos altogether.

Meerkat

Lioness and Cubs

Giant Tortoise

The Clicky Monster!

Giraffe

Rhea

Llama

Sea Lion with 3-Day-Old Pup

King Colobus Monkey

Black Faced Spider Monkey

Orang Utan

Red Panda

Zebra

Flamingoes

Pelicans

Goats

Ring Tailed Lemur

Lizard

Iguana

Baby Donkey

Blackpool's Golden Mile 1980s Style

Ages since I added to the occasional series of Vanished Blackpool so here's a quick one to savour!

Savour may not quite be the most apt word, and I'm not sure I should have used style in the title as the Golden Mile in July 1981 showed little flair for style.

The buildings had originally been houses - you can spot gable ends towards the right. The original Golden Mile started as stalls in front gardens. The householders sold drinks for the beach and were so successful that they learned that if they knocked down their garden fences or railings and let out the front garden they could earn fortunes.

Drinks stalls were joined by quack medicines, sideshows, and some really tasteless stuff. One not-so-rich newly wed couple spent their honeymoon in a glass case "Starving to Death for Love", just one of many questionable shows which included the (arguably wrongly) defrocked Rector of Stiffkey, who exhibited himself in a barrel. He later died in the jaws of a lion in Skegness when, whilst preaching from inside its cage, he inadvertantly trod on its tail...

But despite the boarded up windows and horrendous dilapidation of the upper storeys of the buildings, I always think of this section as the last bit of the Golden Mile with character...

There was an excellent burger bar there too before burgers became the bland stuff you get at franchise burger bars these days. Fried onions and ketchup with none of this cheese and salad and grated onion nonsense! The late 1970s saw a rapid decrease in the small independant burger stalls. New Trade Description laws meant that the term hamburger had to disappear - as burgers were made with beef - and a new word beefburgers appeared on the menu.

Large version of the photo: Golden Mile

More from Margot

Margot Carey, the lady who started off the Great Telescope Treasure Hunt, has sent me some fascinating photos and I'm going to add a couple more here.

Margot is, I think, the young lady to the left of this photo with two lion cubs and the family are remarkably relaxed and composed about posing with them! Ah, wait, the filename of the photo reveals there was a sheet of glass between the lions and the family! The photograph was apparently taken in the Olympia building. Margot, I think we need to know more about this one!

The next one shows Margot as a young girl, sitting on Santa's knee in the RHO Hills store. It was taken around 1947. RHO Hills was opposite the back of the Tower, where Waterstones is now and I have a feeling it burned down? I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong! Margot, I've added your name in the labels below - clicking your name there will open all the entries you are mentioned in! I have a feeling we may hear from you again! I certainly hope so!

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