Port Lympne Zoo

It seemed like a good idea at the time. To go to the zoo park up the road in Lympne. It was raining on and off and the car-park was pretty full when we arrived in the afternoon and by the time we came out three hours later, there were two cars; ours and one other.

In the dry and perhaps even warm, the park would be great, but as it rained the entire time we were there, only the gorillas put on much of a show. The park's main work in conservation is with gorillas and black rhino. At least we got to see them!

The gorilla family in the "Palace of the Apes" were hunting through straw bales for snacks and we were told that the dominant male, a big silver back, has six wives and loads of kids. His life looks ideal as he does nothing but lie about all day, eat and have sex. Lucky bugger. Mother and a baby pictured above. I took this through the thick glass!

The park is set in a few acres, okay a lot of acres, and a lot of it on the hillside below Lympne towards the marsh on the lower level. There is a lot of up and down type walking.

The Rhinos have plenty of space to wander about, until the last bit of the trip, they were always too far away for a photo session. We finally came across a female and her huge calf at the top of the hill. The kid peered out under the metal fence and I could have touched his muddy nose. He turned round and decided to have a pee in front of us!

If I had had a damned video camera I'm sure "You've been Framed" or some programme would have paid me £250!

I have uploaded a selection to my Flickr account and some of them are linked above!