You can come too, too, too

We were all up fairly early. We had a train to catch. The weather was not looking promising, so we loaded up with sweaters and jackets, just in case. There is a great advantage to having a buggy with us. It can be used to transport all of our stuff. We arrived at Exmouth Station with time to spare and plonked ourselves down in an almost empty carriage. Ellie was very excited. This was the first time she had been on a train (that she remembers).

The train chugged up the east side of the estuary and into Exeter, there the driver changed ends and we swept down the west side of the estuary passing Dawlish Warren, Teignmouth, Torre, and Torquay before arriving at Paignton. The trip was about 90 minutes but was a lot more relaxing than it would have been, had we gone by car.

At Paignton, we waited for a bus. (It’s nice that the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox’s bus passes work all over the country as the trip was free for us - and for Ellie, only Urban-Cub had to pay £2).  We had clearly just missed one and had a 25 minutes wait. The sun was still hiding and it was a bit chilly. When the bus finally arrived we hopped on and settled down for the 10 minute ride to the Zoo. The first stop was a medical centre where an old bloke got on and proceeded to explain to the Silver Vixen that he had had a pain in his testicle. (These locals do like to share).

It was coming up to midday by the time we arrived at the Zoo. The sun had broken through and it looked as if we would have a lovely afternoon. The first order of the trip was to wander past the the flamingoes,  find the restrooms and grab a drink. 

Then we were off on our adventures. In no particular order we visited the crocodile swamp, where the specimens seemed particularly unimpressed by the public and just dozed in their enclosures. We passed various exotic birds, including peacocks, rheas, and most impressively some huge spectacled owls. There were several aviaries that appeared empty, but we suspect the birds were just well camouflaged or in the nests.

Next on the agenda was a diversion to see the spider monkeys. They were quite amazing and really amused Ellie. One (grandpa, as she called it) just sat there on a branch observing the world, yawning, and having a scratch. The other was far more boisterous and charged around the enclosure, throwing itself across branches and ropes, and even climbing a brick wall. Just behind the monkeys was an enclose for red panda. This was causing a frisson of excitement as there had recently been some babies. One family claimed they could see them way up in a tree. Nobody else seemed to manage, so we wandered away.

There was a brief diversion into the soft play area before we resumed the visit. We went to find the big cats. Again, the lion was feeling shy and was a no-show, but the tigers were wandering about in their enclosure. One decided to grace the visitors by wandering right up to the viewing Perspex, turning round, and defecating (to the amusement of all the children).

The great apes were next on our tour. As we approached a young couple warned us that the queue was very long and that we would be better finding a viewing spot where we could see the gorillas when they were let out onto the island at 2:30. This seemed like good advice. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox settled by a viewing platform with the buggy to wait for 25 minutes, while Urban-Cub and Ellie went off for a wander to find another play area. After about 10 minutes the viewing spot was beginning to fill up fast. The Gorse Fox messaged Urban-Cub to return and they got back just in time. Three 18-year-old gorillas were released onto the island to forage for food (that had been spread out by the keepers), exercise, and generally look very impressive. After a while the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox backed out to let some others get a better view. Urban-Cub and Ellie followed after a few more minutes when Ellie started to get bored.

We headed for a large play area. Ellie could let off more steam and we could sit down for a cup of tea and a bite to eat (though, as they only sold pizza at this cafe, the Silver Vixen and Urban-Cub had to walk back to another cafe to get the food). We must have stayed at this spot for a good 45 minutes or more. When we left there, we visited the rhinos (who were indoors and particularly smelly) then on to find the giraffes. There were several enclosures on the way with various hogs and some more exotic birds. The giraffes were in their giraffe house which was closed, but we were able, from a distance, to see through the door and see one of the giraffes as he passed the open the door.

Last stop was to see if could find the cheetah. This, again, proved fruitless as he was obviously hiding or relaxing far from the various viewing areas. We headed back to the gift shop, and final restroom break, and off to the bus stop. We only had a five minute wait, and were soon back at the railway station. There we had another five minute wait, boarded the train, and made ourselves comfortable in an almost empty carriage. Ninety minutes later we pulled into Exmouth. Urban-Cub and Ellie headed straight back to the house while the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox stopped off at the M&S Food Hall for some essentials.

It had been a brilliant day.