Alice's visit to Paignton Zoo

Lucien had a week off, this week, and we thought it would be a nice idea to take Alice to the zoo. She has been previously but she was only 7 months old, she has since developed a love of animals and loves to watch them. Perfect opportunity to go to the zoo.

Alice and Lucien by the flamingos

Alice was not bothered to look at the flamingos, for one reason alone... the train was parked just below where we were stood, and trains (or woo woo trains, if you are Alice) are the most amazing thing ever. Grandad Sherwood will be proud ;)

Lucien and I saw a sign for Breakfast ciabattas in the cafe and decided to make tracks over that way, well it would be rude not to... however, we did go via the reptile house so Alice could see the turtles and crocodiles.

Alice looking for the crocs

Bacon ciabatta and a cuppa

The only way Alice will drink water, in a proper water bottle

Those bacon ciabattas were awesome, I think we had a pack of bacon in each of the rolls.

After having something to eat and drink, we went for a walk and ended up at 'Monkey Heights', after looking around 'Crocodile Swamp' and 'Baboon Rock'. We saw the little monkeys which were apparently scary, according to Alice, who had kept shouting to us to go and see. We carried on round and found the Mangabey monkeys and stood to watch them for a while. The baby in the enclosure spotted Alice and came over to the glass to see her and show her what he was eating.We took Alice out of the pushchair so she could get closer, the monkey then decided to show off to her and jump around, Alice copied him and he then copied her back. It was so funny to watch them interacting.

Alice and her monkey friend

Next, Alice wanted to see 'Topsy' or as we know them, giraffes. We walked via the zebras and the camels and Alice really enjoyed looking at them as well.

The camels have a brilliant view of the bay.

We got to the giraffes and Alice was fascinated by them, she kept shouting to me that she could see them, just to make sure I could too. It was lovely to see that there were a few giraffes there, the last time I saw them there was only a couple in there.

After the giraffes was the elephant, Duchess is the only elephant that Paignton Zoo have as they don't want to cause any problems to her. She is a poorly elephant that has had one eye removed and the other one is deteriorating. We walked inside to see her and Alice loved looking at Duchess, I think she was the most excited to see the elephant.

Duchess having something to eat

 We promised Alice a train ride before we left the zoo, so we did this next. She loved riding on it and waving at everyone. We also let her sit by herself on there, which we haven't done before for safety reasons, however she behaved very well.

Last but not least, we went to see the lions. Alice loved watching them, they were quite close by and so it made it more exciting for her to see them.

After looking at the lions at the top we walked down towards the birds and the exit. we got to the viewing area at the bottom and the male lion came charging towards us, mainly Alice as she was stood right by the glass. He starting roaring at her and protecting his pride, her response wasn't to be scared or worried (which Lucien and I were a little bit), she roared back which aggravated him more and he then roared louder and came closer. They had a stand off and he then turned his back and walked away.

Alice loved her visit to the zoo. The thing she keeps telling me about though is the fact the elephant did a poo... Its funny what children remember, she saw all the animals at the zoo and that is what she got from it.

Laura