Last Thursday my best friend Daisy drove her girlfriend, Kai and I to Port Lympne reserve park. It took us a few hours to get there, but it was amazing to get out of Brighton for the day.
There were no actual bears, except this hairy thing
The first thing I would like to say is that, as a grown adult I love going to see animals. I also highly enjoy going to zoo’s when its not the school holidays. If you don’t have kids, I recommend you do it then because its so peaceful. You occasionally have to deal with a crying baby from time to time, but it’s worth it. Secondly, the place is 600 acres. Yes you heard me right 600, and no you cannot walk it all.
The cost is £20 and it includes a 2 hour truck drive round the park. They have set times when the trucks go round, so I suggest you arrive there early. The last time to enter the park in is half 2.
The first thing we did was look around and investigated the walking areas. The area is so big that we managed to walk round about a quarter of the area. You don’t realise how big the place is until your legs are aching and you feel like you might die. So yes, this is also an amazing.
We also got to see so many different types of animals. I think Kai will be also doing a post on this place, and he has so many photos, so please read that when it goes up. The animals looked so happy (apart from when it was feeding time and you then remember how dangerous some of these animals are) and they all had so much space to run around.
The plus side is also when visiting places like this, you do get to see animals that are probably going to be extinct soon. The thought is depressing as hell that in a few generations people would never see Rhinos or Lions unless its in a video or a text book. Please if you can, get out there and visit places that have these animals, before its too late.
Our slot for the truck ride was at 2:30pm and it was really good. It took us around the rest of the park that we couldn’t see. Its also a really fun ride. Also, Giraffes are really fucking friendly. When you drive past, you are probably going to have one pop their head into the truck. They had a baby giraffe and it was so cute.
Towards the end, we heard some scraping and the truck had to make an emergency stop. A tire had come of the actual truck and we were driving on its rim. The driver was both professional and a total gentleman. Even when a really rude couple (and their elder son I believe) were really rude to him. We were told to wait 20 mins / half hour for the truck to get fixed or you could start walking up the hill. We had already walked the same hill already and decided to stay with the truck. The couple then got arsey, complaining that the driver wasn’t doing his job and that they could handle it better. They then got really stroppy when they saw that a pregnant lady and her small child were given a lift up the hill and complained that they had to walk.
We apologised to the driver on their behalf and explained that they had already been giving everyone dirty looks before the ride had even started, and that personally they were looking for something to complain about. This was proven when we got back to base and we saw the woman of the couple complaining. We then told the staff what actually went on, and that she was clearly lying through her teeth. She even had claimed that the driver said the truck would take 40 mins to fix, which was total bullshit. The staff were so grateful that we came to them, we honestly were so shocked with what she was saying.
Honestly, if you have a free day, I highly recommended that you go visit, its so good. I would like to go again soon so I can see the dinosaur exhibit they are building at the moment. Not only are the animals so cute, but the views are amazing.
If you want to see more photos of the day, find me on instagram. My username is @tylercharlesausten
Tyler Charles Austen 