Time with the animals. Blair Drummond.
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Recommendation added: 12/04/2006 14:40
By: phoenix06 (YSUK rating +31)phoenix06 has been thanked 10 times for this contribution
"Last summer, having returned from our individual holidays, my girlfriend and I were stuck for things to keep us amused. Everyday for about 2 weeks we'd do the same old stuff...sleep in, go and grab some lunch, go for a walk then go and watch a film. There was a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, as we'd been away we didn't have much money to spare, and secondly there wasn't really all that much to do that hadn't already been done.
I spotted an advert in the Daily Record about a safari park I'd seen sign posts for but never really thought much of it. I mean, come on, it's Scotland, how many different varieties of cat and dog could you find here? I decided to give it a shot as it wasn't terribly expensive (I think it was about £6 each for students) and the drive up to Stirling was quite a pleasent one.
I arrived expecting to find a couple of acres of land that you could walk around, with a few cages containing some exotic birds and monkeys - maybe a some sheep also! Boy I couldn't have been more wrong....
When we drove up to the parks gates (the park being extremely well sign-posted the whole way there) we were met by 3 wooden booths where you could purchase your tickets and buy guide maps etc. I was astonished to discover what my ticket would entitle me to: -
Wild Animal Reserves (this is a safari tour, where if you've come by car you get to drive along a route getting extremely close to Rhinos, camels, deer, buffalo, Lions and Tigers - plus many many more)
Pet's Farm (where you get to roam about select animals, petting them)
Performing Sea Lion Shows (which were absolutely fantastic, these seals were incredibly well-trained)
Giant Astraglide (ride)
Boat Safari to Chimpanzee Island (this was great fun, don't worry though, your mostly behind cages in the boat so the bananas that the monkeys throw at you won't hit!)
Adventure Playground (for the children!)
Picnic and Barbecue Area (we never brought a picnic with us because we never knew there would be these facilities - great catering services dotted around the place though which specialise in all sorts of foods!)
'Flying Fox' (ride)
Five-seater Pedal Boats (I really enjoyed these - very relaxing)
Our favourite attraction (out of the incredible number) was the safari tour. What's great about this is you are in total control of how slow you go (obviously not reaching high speeds though) and how much you want to take it. I insisted on going round twice as I enjoyed it so much - at no extra cost!
There's so much about Blair Drummond Safari Park that's worth the entrance fee alone. It's incredibly easy to access and there's so much to do - I guarantee you won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't.
We're going back again this summer and I'm looking forward to it equally as much as I am to going away to Crete. What I still can't get over is the fact that such a place exists in Scotland. The workers take great care of all the animals and they look to be extremely happy throughout - there's no need to go abroad to experience something like this, I doubt any Safari Park in the world would bring you as much satisfaction as Blair Drummond in Stirling."
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