Exmoor Zoo A (Possible) First Visit?

Brum said:
Well I'm back and unfortunately only managed to do the two Torbay collections as our holiday was cut short and we had to leave on Thursday afternoon due to a death in the family. :(
I did find out some important information regarding travelling on buses in Devon... It's expensive! It cost £15 for a family saver for the Torbay area alone, if going by bus I suggest the £25 'megarider' which covers 7 days travel on all Stagecoach SouthWest buses which from what I can gather cover a lot (if not all) of the West Country and Shaldon, Devons British Wildlife Centre (incidentally just outside of Newton Abbot ;)), Paignton and Living Coasts are easily reachable from where you're staying. For Exmoor or Newquay it'll have to be train and bus because Devon is a bloody big county! :D
Hope some of this helps. :)
Click to expand...

My general plan is to use trains throughout my visit :) and my condolences for your loss, Brum.

Parrotsandrew said:
TeaLovingDave, I am thinking that if you are staying in Newton Abbot and you don't mind an early start, you should be able to get a train to Exeter in time to catch another to Barnstaple that would enable you to catch the 8.50 310 bus via Bratton Fleming to the end of the lane to Exmoor Zoo. Obviously you would be at the zoo for about 9.30 and have to wait to get in, but it would be much cheaper than a taxi and the next bus is at 11.20. Only once have I managed to catch the early bus from Barnstaple, this was when there was a very early train from Paignton, even so I had to rely on it being right on time and then run over the bridge at Newton. It was worth it though and the half hour outside the zoo soon passed. I suppose I'd be better off staying in Newton, but I could not bring myself not to stay in Paignton - I like being able to potter up to the zoo on my days there and to have a walk on the front and the pier on the evenings after I have been to Paignton Zoo or am back for 7.30 if I've been somewhere else.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the suggestion - I may well do just this, as I am no stranger to early rising to get the most out of a zoo visit ;)
 
Parrotsandrew said:
Sorry to hear about your bereavement Brum.
Click to expand...

TeaLovingDave said:
my condolences for your loss, Brum.
Click to expand...

Thank you both.

TeaLovingDave said:
My general plan is to use trains throughout my visit
Click to expand...

The 'Megarider' ticket is worth taking a chance on even if you only have to catch a few buses as the cost soon mounts up. I honestly think that the bus fares in Devon are extremely expensive, it costs £4.90 for a day ticket that covers the Torbay area only and we paid £6.40 for a child and 2 adults for a 10 minute journey!:eek:
And you may have to catch a bus or 2 to Exmoor, Newquay etc etc. ;)

My best bit of advice for the trip though... Get to Living Coasts, only 2 mammalian carnivores ;) but it's still a great experience!
 
Brum said:
And you may have to catch a bus or 2 to Exmoor, Newquay etc etc. ;)
Click to expand...

I think the only bus I'll be needing is the Exmoor one ;) you forget, I *am* the man who pioneered the on-foot route to Hamerton! Living Coasts, Paignton and Newquay are all only a short walk from their respective rail stations, after all.

How was your trip to Paignton zoo then?
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I think the only bus I'll be needing is the Exmoor one ;) you forget, I *am* the man who pioneered the on-foot route to Hamerton! Living Coasts, Paignton and Newquay are all only a short walk from their respective rail stations, after all.
Click to expand...

Very true, compared to that the others are a walk in the park! :D
And I took some of your previous advice and got the kids used to some fairly long walks whilst there, Hamerton should be a doddle by next summer! ;)

TeaLovingDave said:
How was your trip to Paignton zoo then?
Click to expand...

Paignton was fantastic except missing the tomistoma, which was gutting! Especially as I didn't even know they had one and wasn't sure if I was scanning an empty enclosure or not!
Other than that it was a great visit, I got to see the kusimanse and brush tailed porcupine being fed which was fantastic and kept me entertained for a good ten minutes. The echidna was running around its enclosure constantly and it was a joy to see it so active and not curled up under the lamp. The lion cubs are adorable, I hate being so soppy but they really are! :D
It was great getting to see the takin and tail-less tenrecs, both firsts for me. (The tomistoma would've been three... :()
The rest of the zoo was the same as always, absolutely brilliant! Crocodile Swamp and Reptile Tropics were great but reptiles in the desert house are not on display for the winter which was a shame. Amphibian Ark is pretty good and allows some viewing into the breeding and off-show area and has a decent collection of some unusual (to me) specimens.
Monkey Heights, which has caused some controversey on here, was a hive of activity with every species (primate and none-primate) showing well. The mouse deer and squirrel were sharing an enclosure and the loris were sharing with the tree shrews which left me feeling that the mouse deer had been short changed in the space department as it was previously in the larger enclosure!
The Nocturnal House was looking decidedly empty with only a sloth in the one enclosure and bats in the other, none of the bats ventured outside either which was a bit of a dissapointment as it's great seeing them fly out in the daylight.
All in all a great experience, I even spent half an hour in the brookside aviary and I'm not even a keen birder!
I love Paignton Zoo, it's a personal favourite and this visit was no different. This may sound cliched but it's always like visiting an old friend. Sorry if I went on too much but you did ask... :)
 
Brum said:
Paignton was fantastic except missing the tomistoma, which was gutting! Especially as I didn't even know they had one and wasn't sure if I was scanning an empty enclosure or not!......The echidna was running around its enclosure constantly and it was a joy to see it so active and not curled up under the lamp.....Sorry if I went on too much but you did ask... :)
Click to expand...

I didn't know about the tomistoma until today, so I'm glad I am forwarned about it! As for the echidna, that bodes well for my visit - it is very elderly so I hope it hangs on until the end of January!

And the more information people report on a zoo visit, the better I think :) so you didn't go on at all!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I didn't know about the tomistoma until today, so I'm glad I am forwarned about it! As for the echidna, that bodes well for my visit - it is very elderly so I hope it hangs on until the end of January!

And the more information people report on a zoo visit, the better I think :) so you didn't go on at all!
Click to expand...

The best time to see the echidna is late in the day by all acounts. I got to the enclosure a little after half past three.
I hope you enjoy your visit, if it's your first time then it'll easily fill a day. We spent 5 hours there and I know my way around quite well! I hope you get lucky with the weather, we had a decent few days and it made all the difference!
 
If the weather holds up like it has been, I suspect Exmoor Zoo will be a no-go for me next week :( going by photos on Facebook it is entirely snowed under, and being as my itinerary plans for my visit there on Monday I don't think this will be enough time for them to get the place cleared even if it does not snow further there.

I think Newquay, Paignton, Shaldon and Living Coasts should all be okay though.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
If the weather holds up like it has been, I suspect Exmoor Zoo will be a no-go for me next week :( going by photos on Facebook it is entirely snowed under, and being as my itinerary plans for my visit there on Monday I don't think this will be enough time for them to get the place cleared even if it does not snow further there.

I think Newquay, Paignton, Shaldon and Living Coasts should all be okay though.
Click to expand...

It seems that Dave's are not likely to see Exmoor unless it's during the summer, I feel your pain.
At leat you'll get the echidna at Paignton though! :D And I'm sure you'll enjoy the other three collections as well, they are all decent small zoos that have more plus points than negatives. ;)
 
No sign of snow on Gigit's Paignton photos from today. Shame about Exmoor (it does have its own climate being so high up of course, it was wet when I went in September but dry a couple of miles down the road as I found to my displeasure whilst on the bus back to Barnstaple), but enjoy the visits you do make.

Just remembered my taxi driver to the zoo in September commented on how bad the snow up there had been last winter.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Don't jinx it! :p
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't want any more misfortune to befall your trip.And besides that, I've always been able to see the echidna/s, (I've been visiting for quite a long time now! :D) even if they choose not to do much! :p
 
I managed to not only see the echidna at Paignton, but to reach Exmoor Zoo :) photographs - albeit ones hampered by the heavy rainfall on glass windows - are uploading into the gallery now.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I managed to not only see the echidna at Paignton, but to reach Exmoor Zoo :) photographs - albeit ones hampered by the heavy rainfall on glass windows - are uploading into the gallery now.
Click to expand...

Out of interest, what time of day were you at the echidna enclosure?

And damn you and your visit to Exmoor! :p
 
Ah good, I'm pleased you made the earliest bus - much cheaper than getting a taxi and not too much of a wait for the zoo to open. That's the difference between staying in Newton Abbot and staying in Paignton as I do (other than the one year I was able to run over the bridge at Newton).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top