What I Wore:
Cardigan: H&M // Vest: H&M // Belt: ASOS // Skirt: Charity Shop
For my birthday (last Sunday, I'm behind I know), I spent the third weekend in a row hanging out with animals, I honestly think I might be zooed/farmed out, so I'm clutching at straws to figure out what we're going to get up to with our guests this weekend but I'm not complaining.
I had absolutely no idea what Moon's plans for my birthday were so I was really excited and surprised when he told me we were off to Cotswold Wildlife Park for the day. Do not even start on me that I turned 26, it's totally cool, okay?
Cotswold Wildlife Park is just on the outskirts of the market town of Burford - right next to my favourite garden centre in the world - and it's advertised everywhere. On the leaflets it always says something along the lines of 'get closer to the animals' 'get closer than you've been before' and that's not just a marketing ploy to get you through the gate, you genuinely do. I can't express how impressed I was with this place, particularly after having mixed thoughts on a zoo as popular and large as Longleat Safari a couple of years ago.
I know zoos aren't necessarily everyone's cup of tea and there are definitely some bad ones but when they're doing good work and the animals are happy, well, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon in the sunshine. Cotswold Wildlife Park was actually voted one of the best zoos in Europe too so... All the enclosures were a really good size and none of the animals seemed stressed or annoyed and were actually really relaxed.
One thing that struck me was how trusting they seem to be, there's no electric fences or razorwire here, I actually had my lunch sat less than 10 feet away from a white rhinoceros. Thing is, the few ruin it for the many don't they, so I can be trusted to sit and admire these animals, while someone stupid could take a dive over that fence for a rhino party. It's not quite the same set up for the lions but you get the idea — I hope no one does do that, just because, well, judge for yourself how nice it is...
Otters are firmly in my top 10 - deer are my favourite if you were wondering (after cats though, realistically) - and I definitely had to show some restraint to not lean right over and touch these sleeping cuties.
Lemurs reflecting my general mood.
This skirt is one of the best things I've found in a charity shop and just what I've been looking for. THE COLOURS!
Last weekend was the first in a while that we've had to ourselves in a while and the last in a while too. While it's nice to have visitors, I do relish in our alone time too and he is quite a good zoo buddy.
The greenhouse was meant to have all sorts from bats to a sloth but I didn't see any of that. With that being said, the amount of neat plants was more than enough to impress me. It was like stepping into a rainforest!
Andrew Moon and his juice box. ♥
These guys were easily my favourite, helped by the adorable calf they had. In fact, just yesterday they welcomed another little one!
#emojisinthewild
This delightful critter was chowing down on a bunny :(
Sweet baby grouse.
Playing with lighting, like nerds
This capybara was called James ♥
We're still debating the 'should we get chickens' thing, but these tiny ones might be alright, how tiny do you reckon their eggs are?
This is the face of someone who can barely handle the cuteness of a baby miniature donkey and its love of being petted.
Look! SO SMALL!
I thought for the amount of time we spent there, the amount of animals we got to see and how close we got, it was really reasonably priced, just £15 each. It would have softened it even more if they offered a 'come back again' discount ticket like so many other places do but I had such a nice experience I wouldn't even begrudge paying full price again and I'm going to keep recommending it to everyone.
When we got home, Moon had made me a birthday cake so we had that before heading out to dinner, isn't it nice? It was lime-flavoured with lime cream cheese frosting and lemon curd, not bad considering it's taken him 9 years to bake me a cake ♥.
Being 26 hasn't been so bad so far, I've entered into the world of Serial, started a new book and been able to keep on top of housework. I also bought new bedsheets and some butterflies. I also finally sorted through a backlog of .misc photographs so stay tuned, gang. ♥
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