Farm Experience & Zoo
We excitedly headed to Twyford Zoo for the first of our animal encounters this week. No sooner were we through the entrance gate we could hear the booming call of the Siamang monkeys who have specialised throat sacks which they inflate to amplify their voices so they can be heard up to 2km away! We then got an amazing close up look at the Amur leopards which are critically endangered!
We then said hello to Alexander and Sergei in the meerkat enclosure before heading round to the wet and wild one where we made some friends in the penguin enclosure. We checked out the gorillas, Bonobo chimpanzees and other creatures great and small.
Dudley Castle and Zoo had something for everyone. When we arrived, we were met by the land train which took us up to the top of the hill where the castle sits. We hopped off and walked through the castle grounds to the castle creatures exhibit where we learnt about the history and met some creepy creatures that would have lived in and around the castle back in the day.
Next, we stopped to watch some amazing birds including a Harris Hawk being flown and a crazy looking bird that looked like road runner from the cartoon. He gave us a great demonstration on how it would deal with a snake in the wild by picking it up in its big, sharp beak and smashing it repeatedly on the ground. Fortunately, this was demonstrated with a rubber toy snake and not a real one!
Then we said hello to the sea lions and checked out some amazing looking birds in a huge aviary. We worked our way down the hill having a fab time watching all the different primates getting up to all kinds of monkey business! We even took a walk on the wild side as we walked through the Lemurs enclosure where we were able to get up close and personal with the furry little fellas. Some of the group wanted to be brave and have a close encounter with the feathered kind and went into the Lorikeet enclosure where we were able to feed them. They landed on us and sipped nectar from the little pots that we were given. It was an amazing experience.
We then all took a trip to the farm and had a look at some of the farm animals before going in the barn and checking out some smaller, furry looking friends. We finished looking at the rest of the animals and then headed for the gift shop to hunt out some souvenirs.
A great morning was spent at Ash End Farm for some more animal antics. As soon as we arrived we got stuck in straight away by making a fuss of the goats in the barn. We also got to hold some super cute rabbits and guinea pigs which we all really enjoyed even though they were wriggly! Our next stop was meeting the gentle giant, George the Shire horse who happily allowed us to sit on his back. What a memorable moment for us. We then headed back to see the greedy goats as it was feeding time. Luckily for us we were allowed to help feed the baby goats some milk from the bottle. Everyone’s faces lit up as they were so cute but ravenous! They drained their bottles of milk in no time! The brave and fearless then entered the reptile house where we saw all kinds of snakes, lizards, spiders and tortoises. We then worked our way back through the barns admiring the cattle, huge Tamworth pigs and more horses. 
We hopped on the bumpy tractor ride for a tour around the farm which gave us a chance to see lots of other animals including donkeys, alpacas and even a reindeer!
It was a unanimous vote to visit the famous Cadbury’s World in Birmingham. As we arrived, we were so excited to explore all things chocolaty and our first stop was in the Bournville museum which was a real trip down memory lane as it was full on Cadbury’s collectibles and memorabilia that took us all back to our childhoods. We then entered the exhibit which started off in the South American jungle, where we dodged the huge Anaconda and made it safely through the rain forest.
We then tried our hands at piping chocolate by writing our names on the huge marble slab, before having a go at using some of the special knives that the chocolatiers use to make different chocolate shapes. We then went on our next adventure through a magical ride in Cadbury’s land where dived into a pot of liquid chocolate and took to the skies in a crème egg airship…….
.....and when it had finished, we were treated to some more free samples of yummy chocolate! It was then another trip down memory lane as we visited the advertising section where we got to relive some of our favourite Cadbury’s advertising moments, including the infamous drumming gorilla. As our day came to an end, we stopped off at the gift shop to buy some Cadburys merchandise before making our way back to base.
It was off to the bowling alley for a few fun and friendly games of bowling. Jane blew us away with a whopping score of 117 points. Well done everyone for being great sports!
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