I wasn't planning on posting this, but Bossy Linda, being Bossy...and Linda.... made me do it
I'd booked a VIP trip to Longleat for me and Mrs PB, to celebrate my birthday. It was booked for Monday 19th. Now that date may sound familiar to you (may you rest in peace Your Majesty), so understandably it was cancelled, with a refund in due course. I checked the website, and saw there was availability for Wednesday, coinciding rather nicely with Mrs PB and myself having that day off, so I booked it. What a fabulous decision, it turned out that rather than being in a car of six, there were just the two of us, with the ranger. Even more fabulous, it turns out it was carnivore feeding day. And finally, to make it even more fabulous, as we were 20 minutes early, they said come on, hop aboard now, and we'll be in the enclosure when the food truck comes through!!!
Before we left the Welcome Hut I asked how close we'd get, wondering which lens to use, the answer was "very" ... so the little lens (105mm) it was...a good choice as it performed magnificently:
We saw Tigers
Lions
This next image isn't cropped... we really did get this close!
Cheetah
Wolves
Giraffes
Ring Tailed Lemur
Black Wildebeest (Gnu)
Antelope-Eland
They're bigger than they look when they're being chased by lions!!
White Backed Vulture
Other Antelope...this is apparently extinct in the wild
The ranger even took us through the Monkeys
And some could be described as "cheeky" Monkeys
A massive cow!- Ankole
The Lone Ranger of Antelope, or headed to a masked ball! -Roan Antelope
The male Eland...considerably bigger than the female
Scimitar Horned Oryx (also extinct in the wild)
Hippo RHINO on the trot!
Meerkat
Macaw
Crocadowndilly
Hippo
Lowland Gorilla
And Sealion
So, not the usual fare served up here, but a thoroughly enjoyable day, and I hope you like the pics :o)
Stay Safe All
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing such amazing photos. You really did get close. What an experience for you ...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
What a treat to see those pics PB, Longleat is somewhere I would like to visit as have watched it over the years with Kate and Ben, it always looked well run. Fantastic photos of the tigers, lions and cheetah, to get that close must have been scary but a one off experience that you couldn't refuse!!! What did you say to those hippo/rhino .....!!!!!! Just thought I'd go along with it :-) to get them running around like that....... bet you were glad the car didn't stall:-).
Lot to learn
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
What a fabulous day out and superb photos (all 900 of them) to remember the day with.
I've often found that a shorter lens gives better results than a long lens, and with the capabilities of mirrorless, even more so.
Many thanks for sharing.
PS, I managed to coax the dinosauromants to be photographed while I'm down in Cornwall.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler