Deadly 60 at Longleat Safari Park


By Amber Jennings, age 9

At Longleat, when we first arrived me and my mum went to a stadium type place called the 'Hunters of the Sky'. We met some beautiful owls and big birds of prey. Then there were lots of people taking photos of Steve Backshall from CBBC's Deadly 60, so I took loads of photos too! I was even lucky enough to speak to Steve and he showed me a Bald Eagle call Imber!

Amber, Steve and Imber the bald eagle

Afterwards, me and my mum went to explore Longleat. First stop, we went into the small rainbow lorikeet cage. One just came by and flew onto my shoulder! They drink nectar direct your hand.

Second stop, was the jungle kingdom where we saw lots of animals including a Red Panda, some Otters and Meerkats, one of which tried to escape!

Then we went into the butterfly house and the butterflies were flying everywhere one landed on my mums red bag! I saw one which was much bigger than the rest called a Blue Morpho which was quite impressive!

After that I had a play at the adventure castle where you have to be at a certain height to enter. There was either a monkey, tiger or a rhino, to gauge what size you were. I was a tiger.

Next was the batcave! There were bats flying everywhere, the thing that me and my mum didn't like about the batcave was that they weren't in a cage and they flew past our heads!

Me and my mum went to Longleat house and people believed that there was a ghost that lived there called the grey lady. The house belongs to lord Bath.

The best part of the day was going on a Deadly 60 safari tour with Steve Backshall how cool is that! We saw some cheetahs, lions, cubs and tigers.

The last thing before I went home was the jungle cruise there were loads of sea lions we had a chance to feed them! We saw gorillas, pelicans on their cove and 2 hippos.

I had such a fantastic day.

Visit: www.longleat.co.uk
Longleat, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 7NW
Tel: 01985 844400
Twitter: @longleat.co.uk  

My fantastic day out in London

Just how many things can you see and do in a single day in London? It's quite a challenge but Mum, Dad and I were determined to find out.

Our first stop was the Duck Tour which starts at the London Eye. After climbing aboard the "duck" - a big yellow bus called Desdemona, our guide Emma told funny stories about the buildings we'd be seeing.

The bus chugged past the 168ft Nelson's Column and The Ritz Hotel. Then suddenly it headed to the river and - splash! - we plunged in. Dad explained the bus was an amphibious craft used in the D-Day landings in 1944 and originally known as a DUKW.

Once on the river, we passed Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. What a great way to see the city!

Next we visited the famous Hamleys shop in Regent Street, which is marking its 250th anniversary. I couldn't believe how many cool toys were there!

Upstairs is a Build-A-Bear Workshop, where assistant Fred helped me choose and dress a fluffy dog which I called Sally.

After a quick bite to eat, we headed to the Natural History Museum in Kensington. Wow, it's such a big building with so many things to see. And it's free to get in - which Dad liked a lot!

I had fun looking at the dinosaurs and an extinct bird called the dodo.

Next we walked from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. I was looking for the Queen but she didn't seem to be at home.

Mum was using her iPhone to plan our route and the Superlative London app was really useful.

After all the walking we had tired legs so we decided to have tea at the new Planet Hollywood on Haymarket. The kids menu was great. I had just enough energy to get back to our hotel, the Strand Palace near Leicester Square. It was a fantastic day and I learned so much. I can't wait to go back!

FACTFILE: Under 11s travel free on the Tube. For the cheapest adult fares get an Oyster card. Details via oyster.tfl.gov.uk/ oyster/entry.do BA offers one night at the threestar Strand Palace from £62pp including breakfast, based on two sharing. Visit ba.com/london or call 0844 4930758.