I haven’t taken any photos today so here is one from our trip to Jersey Zoo.
This handsome fellow is Badongo and and he has three girlfriends and one baby. No wonder he looks so sure of himself.
Today has been a really long day. The Mister and The Little Mister and I went to Jersey for the day with my Dad, sister and the kids and Auntie Cath.
We went to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for a few hours and had a lovely time, and we even managed to escape the worst of the rain. Here we all are sitting next to the statue of Gerald Durrell. Barnabas has his hands over his head as it had just started to rain!
We had such a nice time and it was so nice just to have a bit of time together. That comment makes me think of the very last thing Mum said to Dad on camera when they were in Greece. He asked her how she was finding the holiday and she said “It’s just nice to have time”. I wish we had so much more time and so many more years with her. I thought of her so often today because she would have really enjoyed the outing. I miss her so much.
So, I am trying to book nice things for us to do together. It seems to me that it is pretty important that don’t forget Mum, but instead we carry on doing family well to honour her. She would have approved.
Today The Mister and I spent all day at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust – better known as Jersey Zoo. It is a brilliant place to go and visit and it was the the only zoo that houses only endangered breeding species. The zoo has an active breeding programme and also funds loads of projects involve din preserving the animals in their natural habitat. The zoo has an educational function and seems to welcome school groups.
I have to admit that going to a zoo in March might seem a bit daft but it was absolutely lovely. It was quiet and whilst there were a few animals that didn’t come out because it was too cold, most of the creatures were out an about.
I love all primates and Jersey Zoo has a fabulous orangutan and gibbon enclosure and a brilliant gorilla enclosure. The zoo is famous for its gorillas as in August 1986 a 5-year -old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure. Jambo, the male silverback gorilla, stood guard over the unconscious child. He was observed to be protecting him and even stroking the child. The gorilla that is pictured here is called Bandongo and he is a young male. Apparently he is a bit of a stud-muffin and the three lady gorillas are all fawning over him and apparently he is getting a lot of sex! The keepers are hoping for a baby boom at the end of the year!
We had a lovely day, and I thoroughly recommend the zoo for a visit. Even better was we had vouchers to get in half price. Fab!
I have had a fantastic weekend with my Mum and my sister Louise in Jersey this weekend. It is the first time that we have ever been away just the three of us and we had such fun. I arrived first on Friday and had a couple of hours to myself which I spent driving around looking at some of the beautiful countryside. Then I picked Louise and Mum up from the airport and we went back to the hotel (which was pretty basic and as my sister is such a snob she complained) before going out for dinner. Much of our weekend has been characterised by eating far, far too much!! After dinner we drove back to the hotel… the scenic route. Louise is CRAP at map-reading (although she will deny it) and we ended up going almost all the way around the idlans. Well, it was dark, and the road signs are truly rubbish!
On Saturday we got up early and went to visit Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (formerly known as Jersey Zoo). It is beautiful with loads of fantastic animals, including some amazing gorillas, gibbons and orang-urans which we watched for ages because they were so fun. In the afternoon we went to the beach (where I had a little sleep) before going to the town and doing some shopping. Mum goes crazy at the sight of a BHS these days. In the evening we went out for dinner again and ate marvellous ice-cream sundaes and then all felt sick.
This morning we went to La Corbiere where we walked to the lighthouse as it was low tide. The weather was absolutely beautiful and there were so many wonderful wild flowers out on the grass verges. Just gorgeous.
So, all in all, I had a fantastic weekend. It was just lovely to spend some proper time with Mum and Louise, without us all having lots of things we had to do and lots of other people around. Mum took the brunt of our teasing, in particular becaue her sense of direction is just terrible and she kept commenting on the beautiful hedges thinking they were the same ones she had seen before (usually they weren’t!) So, a fab weekend and here are a few little pictures for you to share in the experience with us….
And, my favourite picture of the weekend…