Safari in the U.K - Longleat.

They say "All work and no play makes Thom a dull boy"....and lately its been a lot of work and things , I admit, has been a bit dull. The "Summer" weather over here has been largely dominated by rainy days and is anything but summer and thus even the weekends go by with not much to do. This week however we had long laid plans! Our post graduate society was planning a trip to a safari park and I was very much looking forward to it.
I know its difficut to believe that the U.K has a safari park..but its true! Its called Longleat, and its not far from Bristol. To dig in deeper, It was opened in 1966 and was the first of its kind anywhere in the world.It spans an area of 9000 acres and houses more than 500 animals from all over the world. Now, thats the kind of attraction that would excite any dull boy!
The lead up to the trip wasnt very encouraging as the meteorological office had predicted a really lousy day with a severe weather forecast..besides, getting up earlier on a weekend than I would do on a weekday didnt really do my sleepy head much good!
15 of us signed up for the trip and we hired a mini-van for our transport. It didnt take long to get organised and we were off shortly...and as we went along the usual pranks and chitchat made for an interesting journey.
Besides the safari, there were plenty of other activities to do and the charges are included in a mega-ticket called the passport. So we had limited time to visit as much of Longleat as we could before we had to return.
Against all predictions, the weather gods took pity on us and let the sun out for a while. We decided to make the most of it and take the safari first. First among our animal guests were the giraffes. These long necked-long legged creatures were in together with zebras, ostriches and... llamas..strange! Anyhow, they seemed quite at home even if the temperature must`ve been drastically different to what they would have been used to.

Moving on from the giraffes we came up to an enclosure with guess what? Goats! I know all of you in India must be laughing at that one, because the only way a goat would find its way into a safari park(or zoo) in India would be if it was mutton for the lions!!..but no..here it had its own show..and what a show..in retrospect,with all respect to the celebrity status of the more exotic creatures, I think these humble cud chewers stole the show!!

Infact, two kids even decided to entertain us by putting on a headbutting show, reminescent of the football world cup (Matterazi vs Zidane!).
further down the walk, were more entertainment in the form of wallabies, jumbo tortoises and even some Tapirs..all of which seemed to have adapted without any fuss to the miserable weather U.K has to offer!

When we were done with this, our next destination was the deer park; however to get there we had to traverse through territory inhabited by the parks wildest creatures. In fact the area was so notorious that passing through it has been made optional and a bye-pass road has been created for those not brave enough!! No, its not the lions or tigers that earns this status..its not even the elephants or rhinos..its the Rhesus macaque or simply put..the common monkey!!!

As vehicles entered this enclosure, a swarm of monkeys swooped down to check out every single one of them..clamouring with each other for the right of first ascent! and as the vehichles moved, every one of them had atleast one monkey hitching a ride on it..but that was not all..once atop the car or van, they proceeded to pull out and bite on anything that they could get a grip on. It was a funny sight to see and we saw quite a few victims emerge with wipers missing or long rubber beadings trailing behind them..some had their aerials bent or chewed off and others had monkey shit all over!We thought we were immune until two monkeys jumped off our roof with every single piece of rubber beading from the roof! Although the monkeys terrorised and pillaged throughout their territory, it surely must rank amongst the parks premier attractions!

After emerging relatively unscathed but excited from monkeyland, the deer zone was a relative drag inspite of getting to feed some and see hordes of different species some of which were not deers at all!

Interest perked up further as we headed for the predator zone, however that was all the weather gods would allow and the heavens opened up to drench the park with drizzle. Luckily for us the animals didnt seem to mind at all. We saw two or three tigers which were more interested in sleeping than showing themselves to visitors and two troops of even sleepier lions! But the wolves were more entertaining as it was nearing their feeding time and they were running around in anticipation.

With that our safari came to an end and we headed off to find food to satisfy our growling stomachs before we were tempted to eat one of the animals!Once that was taken care of, armed with our passports we headed off to go and complete as many activities as possible before time was up. Our first stop was in the pet corner which had a number of common and not so common pets on display, including various species of rats, rabbits , all the species in between ,macaws snakes and even a large tarantula spider! My friend Morgane had a go at taking the spider in her hand too.

By now the rain was pelting down and we looked for some indoor activities and were glad to find refuge in a butterfly house. This place was amazing ..a little greenhouse with raised temperature to mimic tropical conditions and tens of species of exotic butterflies all fluttering by so aimlessly and fearlessly that it made me wonder if they were drunk!I managed to get some good photos of the butterflies, which Im sure would make my brother - the tiger man - (formerly butterfly man!) proud.

when the rain subsided a bit, we then headed off to try and attempt longleats famous hedge maze. Its a huge maze created out of more than 6 feet high hedges and I was told it could take upto 2 hours to find your way out. With the rain threatening to drench us all and the temperature dropping we were not keen to get stuck in there for two hours. Also, a few of my friends claimed to have got out in 20 minutes and we were determined to beat their timings, so off we headed as determined adventurers with my friends Tobias and Morgane leading in turns and me complaining at every turn that we were lost! Indeed we were lost and seemed to walk about in circles along the same paths several times! There were covered signs along the path which we could check for directions if we were lost, but my friends were adamant to get out without help..and we continued walking about in circles! Finally when we had completed around 17 minutes I took over the lead and led us right out in a time of 19 minutes! That would have been a record but for the fact that we exited through the entrance!!!

In the time remaining we managed a few more activities including a ride on a miniature steam train around the park and a race car motion simulator wich almost had me throwing up! Finally we squeezed in a visit to a bat house and compared our palm sizes to a gorilla`s and our jumping prowess against the jumping champs of the animal kingdom..I ranked as a spring hare(3Mtrs).

By the time we finished all of us were totally exhausted and ready to collapse into our seats and fall asleep. I would highly recommend a trip to Longleat for anyone..no matter what age. I was entertained well the entire day! We still didnt have enough time to complete all activities but the passport ticket allows us to return anytime within a year and complete any incomplete activities..so u might find me heading back sometime soon! I really enjoyed the day.
To summarise here`s a video.


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Bristols Biggest Bike Ride.

The week past was the National Cycling week in U.K . Annually it is celebrated with a wide variety of cycling events throughout the week, and in Bristol, the event is marked by "Bristol`s Biggest Bike ride".
Bristol`s Biggest Bike ride is the U.K`s biggest free non-competitive cycling event and is now in its 14th year. It includes a series of courses to suit people of all fitness levels and ages and includes the following:

The Family Fiesta (about 9 miles)
The Avon Gorge Loop (13 miles)
The Failand Heights Ride (18 miles)
The Sustrans Ride to Portishead (24 miles)
The Clevedon Challenge (38 miles)

This year a record 4000 cyclists registered to take part in Bristol`s Biggest Bike ride..and as the proud owner of a cycle, I didnt want to be left out..so inspite of a rainy morning, and still slightly hung over from the previous nights barbeque party, I was determined to join in.

My frieds John, Thanu and Passy were going too and that gave me more inspiration not to drop out. ..and so it was that we ended up choosing the 18 mile Failand Heights Ride...

To summarise here is the video:

Whew..that took the wind out of me..I`m exhausted!

Clifton Suspension Bridge -a bridge full of suspense.

Its been a while since I`ve been in Bristol, yet when people ask me what all I have seen in Bristol I come up with a blank. A PhD life is busy in itself and I hardly find any free time..and when I do it doesnt help that where I live is miles away from anywhere worth exploring, thus I find myself sleeping and recouping my batteries for most of the weekend.

One of Bristols most famous landmarks is the Bristol suspension bridge and until lately I though I was the only person in bristol who had`nt seen it as yet...so I was delighted when my friend Morgane, announced that she hadnt seen it either.
Thus one fine sunday, I decided to sacrifice some sleep and take the pains to actually go out and see the great spectacle that was supposed to be this bridge!
Bristols public transport, like most of the U.K public transport is confusing and we managed to take the wrong bus and go in the wrong direction, but we eventually did get to the Bristol Downs which is a big strech of green that overlooks the birdge...and I must say on a sunny day it did look very inviting.

As we walked up the Downs, we were abruptly exposed to the Bridge and I must say it looked a lot smaller than I expected, but it certainly had a character of its own..However it was when when we got closer that we could assimilate the scene in its entirety. The bridge sat overlooking what was an astoundingly beautiful gorge (The Avon gorge) through which flowed a very muddy but nonetheless impressive river (The Avon). It was truly a spectacular sight and I spent quite a while absorbing it in.

Like all famous landmarks this one too has its history and anecdotes. Firstly this bridge was Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, or better known as Brunel, who was one of one of Englands finest engineers, and built many of englands finest structures in the 1800s including its first propeller driven ship, and the great western railway, not to mention more than a dozen other bridges!
However his life was short lived and he passed away before the bridge was completed, but his colleagues completed the bridge as a tribute and memorial to him..and it remains so.
Interestingly, the bridge is also known as a suicide bridge! Between 1974 1nd 1993 127 people jumped off the bridge and barriers had to be erected to prevent this. Yet the death rate continues at 4 per year! However not everyone who jumped off died..in 1885 a woman jumped off the bridge, but her skirt acted like a parachute and she landed safe and went on to live to a ripe old age!
In 1957, a fighter pilot flew his plane underneath the bridge and prematurely celebrated before he and the plane smashed into pieces on the cliffs! Today flying is banned underneath the bridge. Bunjee jumping is banned too, but one fool tried a hand at it..and as if that wasnt enough he set himself on fire too! His plan was to cut the rope at the last minute and put out the flames by falling into the water. ..it didnt work...and he ended up as a hanging fireball for 26 seconds before he finally cut the rope and ended up in the Bristol hospital burns unit for treatment!!Well, I enjoyed my trip to this wonderful bridge and even more spectacular scenery it overlooked. I`m hoping to go back there sometime and maybe explore the gorge itself..I hope to update you all in this space when I do..till then keep checking back.