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Tigers!

Another busy week and tomorrow we head off again - who booked this ridiculously busy summer of activities?!? This time last week we were getting ready to head of to Port Lympne again. We last went 2 years ago for our 10th anniversary and we all enjoyed it so much that we decided we would go again. This time we booked into one of their new lodges, the Tiger Lodge. It's in a different part of the park from where we stayed last time, but still very central and of course (most importantly) came with the obligatory golf buggy. On the way there we stopped off for a BBQ with Helen and Simon and their 3 boys. I work with Helen so it could have been a bit one sided but the major draw for the kids was the fact they have a swimming pool. Given it was a hot sunny day (of course), this was the perfect situation and within moments they were all happily splashing around making the most of it. Quickly a whole bunch more people turned up, including a girl of Izzy's age who is most likely going to go to Pangbourne, and the party got underway. Despite having made me promise we would not stay too long, it was us dragging them away in the end.


We carried onto Kent, only getting stuck in one traffic snarl up, and got to the park as it was beginning to empty out so it was great timing. The first major obstacle to get our heads around was the fact that the Tiger Lodge had no kitchen facilities. I had remembered what we had last time, vaguely read the details and made a sweeping assumption... ooops. Luckily we had already agreed we would eat in the pizza restaurant both evenings so it wasn't such a big deal, and it did have a kettle and a coffee machine so we were happy.


Obviously the whole point of booking the Tiger Lodge was to have an uninterrupted view of the tigers. For the first 24 hours they resolutely refused to come round to our side of their (large and densely wooded) enclosure. However, our patience was rewarded and for the second part of the stay they barely left the area in front of our windows. We got to see them playing, grooming, sleeping (alot) and generally acting pretty much like enormous pussy cats as they dozed in the sunshine. We even managed to get some half passable photos in the end. We also saw all 3 cheetahs as we ate our dinner on the terrace, tapirs, gorillas and so much more - it was a lovely trip once again.


Once we got home, I had to go back to work of course. The start / stop nature of August is taking it's toil. Work is much easier when I am in a routine - only doing 3 days a week gives me far too much time to question why I do this week in week out! Never mind, only 10 years or so to go... I'm sure I can manage that.


This afternoon we dropped the girls off to Simon and Audrey's for a few days so we can head to France again, this time with Simon and Sharron on the (motor)bikes. Of course we anticipated good weather, we have had wall to wall sunshine for what seems like forever after all. But no, the forecast for tomorrow as we head to the tunnel is heavy rain, interspersed with thundery showers. Perfect! At least it solves the question of what to wear for the ride down - wetsuits!



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