Sian on Safari

I don't do zoos very often. Anymore. Zoos and I don't get on. I'm always telling the story of me and the Very Angry Penguin, so I probably don't need to go over it again (oh, alright. Me. Mr. Angry. My hand. Wrong place, wrong time..). But I have others..

The year before, I'd got lost in London Zoo (or was it Windsor Safari Park? We did both, that school trip). All I know is that turning first left after the candyfloss stand didn't take me where I needed to go. ..But they found me eventually; and I got a big cheer when I got back on the bus, so that was nice.

I think I'm better sticking to felt animals

Next time I tried a Safari Park, my mum turned to me just as we entered the lions' enclosure and said (really - was she joking? I don't think so) "There isn't as much petrol in this car as I'd like". That was the same park (closed, now, funnily enough) which ran the Jungle Extravaganza stage show. Turned out to be a man in a gorilla suit. My sister has had a phobia of fancy dress shops ever since..

So, I've decided I'll stick to my museums and srt galleries. I'm making an exception for Gary the Magnificent, because, as hamsters go, he is pretty cool and -

"Woah, Mum, are you putting this on your blog?" the family has just said. "Because if you are, you need to be honest. You need to tell them the whole story. Sometimes you can manage animals. Sometimes you even like animals. You'd better show them - the monkey.."

So, in the interests of full and frank disclosure, here it is:

We only met the once, but I could tell he liked me..