"What's that dog got on its head?"

We took the girls to Woburn Safari Park yesterday. Our county is on holiday and a lot of others aren't, so we thought we'd beat the rush. Just over £50 for our 2 adults and 2 children. Still, it keeps the riff-raff out.

You do get quite a good day out, better than going to most city zoos. There's a difference between seeing a bear sitting depressed in a poky little enclosure, and seeing one strolling up a hill, or crossing the road in front of you. The most amazing sight of the day for me (which I hope is captured on video) was seeing the giraffes running along in that curious slow-motion way they have.

You can drive round the wild animal bit as many times as you like, although you're less inclined on the second go to sit at the side of the road and just stare at the tigers. But here's a tip for you: the animals first thing in the morning were mostly up and about and lively. Two of the tigers were even having a bit of a fight, and lion cubs (they were born in October) were frolicking around. Later in the afternoon, almost all of them were lying around having a snooze. So go early, and go soon if you want to see the lion cubs before they grow much more.

After the drive, there are bits you can see on foot, like lemurs and squirrel monkeys, wallabies, and the penguins (which lined up, as you can see, for a photo op). Or you can go in the bird house with cups of nectar and watch your kids freak out as the birds land on their heads.

The Woburn park itself is quite lovely, and if you go to the deer park alone, it's cheaper - or you can even cut through and see deer for free. Years ago, my then-best-friend took his girlfriend through the deer park. She was a London girl. They were driving along, and she suddenly said, "What's that dog got on its head?"



She actually thought that deer were extinct in this country. There are a few more amazing wildlife photos (which I travelled 20 minutes to take) on my flickr account.