Regular readers of this blog will know certain facts about me
- I adore cats - large and small
- I never get to go away on holiday anymore as we have a Koda
- Koda can just about cope with one night int he cattery as he won't eat anything but we are away for only 36 hours.
Put those together and you are all set up for an incredible two days and night we had two weeks ago.
We saw over a year ago that West Midlands Safari Park had lion lodges where you sleep in the lion enclosure. (They have other lodges with giraffes, tigers, hippos, elephants etc but nothing felt right other than the lions)
We wanted to go in the summer when daylight hours were longest to make the most of it and we went on their mailing list to be notified as soon as summer dates became available. It was the start of September when we booked our night for June this year. Almost a year of anticipation and then thinking after all the anticipation it was bound to be disappointing. It so wasn;t.
The whole experience was five star - the staff were super helpful, the service exceptional and the experience once in a lifetime.
The lodges are beautifully themed in an African style. Ours was called Nairobi. You have a kitchenette, dining room, lounge with a massive - and I mean the whole wall massive - window, there are two bedrooms, each with the same massive windows and an outside viewing area with a complete glass side. And all of these windows look into the lion enclosure where 4 brothers live.
They were almost never out of view and yes, they come right up to the windows. And yes they stop and look in. And yes you feel the thump thump thump vibration as they pad by. And yes they roar - a lot - most of the night - which was utterly magical. No zoom used - to be this close was such a privilege.
Typepad still hates pictures so there are likely to be only a few of the many many we took. There were so many other great photos and video but it's taken half an hour to add these few. Suffice to say it was incredible.
We also go to wander around the rest of the safari park when it was closed to the public which was so special and the TV in the room had animal cameras in all of the other enclosures too.
It was an incredible night and one we will never forget.
I was even motivated to paint
On the way home we stopped at Hidcote Gardens too and that was beautiful but I am guessing it won't let me add any photos of that either!
I am so thankful we had the opportunity
