Having realised I haven't gotten around to this yet:
A full review of my visit to Port Lympne today when I feel a little less tired
I travelled to the collection by train to Westenhanger, then walked the 2 miles or so to Port Lympne - anyone reliant on public transport who is put off by the erratic bus timetable to and from PL will be pleased to hear the walk is quite easy, and goes along quiet country roads for a large portion of the duration
Probably the best way to review the collection is to split it into the four sections which the collection themselves label on their map, which for ease of reference I've linked below - it is too big to insert as an image:
http://www.aspinallfoundation.org/sites/default/files/web/PL_Visitor_Info/PL_MAP.jpg
Basecamp
One of the few criticisms I have about my visit actually pertains to the map; it is simplified enough that it is actually quite misleading in some portions. For instance, rather than being some way from the gatehouse, and accessible via a T-junction which also leads towards the rest of the park, the area containing the wolves, lions and tigers is actually accessed via a path which is directly to the right of the gatehouse after you pass through it. The only signage indicating this fact is on the outside of the gatehouse next to the door; therefore unless you are heading back into the gatehouse you will not see the sign!
Once you actually find this area, it's actually pretty good - the Canadian Timber Wolf enclosure especially is quite thickly vegetated, and gives the animals plenty of room. The views over Romney Marsh and Dungeness are quite good in this portion of the park, too.
Primate Trail
I really liked this area; most of the enclosures were a decent size, and along with mainstays like ruffed lemurs and gorillas there are still a lot of rarities to be found here; greater and lesser bamboo lemurs, crowned sifaka and the golden-bellied mangabeys are all particular highlights. Of course, the biggest rarity in this area is not a primate at all -this area is where the black-footed cats are held, more or less just to the right of where the map labels lemurs. Unfortunately due to the sunlight on the - somewhat grubby - windows, the photos I took of the sunbathing cats haven't turned out terribly well.
Another thing which should not be missed is that down the paths to either side of where the lemurs are labelled, one of the many rusty-spotted cat enclosures at PL can be found - this particular enclosure gave me the most prolonged views of the cats, with two individuals being highly active and sunbathing in relatively good view for photography - I'll be uploading one of my shots from here soon. The only onshow clouded leopards at the park are also in this area; I observed 4 individuals, all of whom were active and visible. The only caveat with this is that the enclosure is about 25 metres from the path, so unless you have an excellent zoom on your camera, or have binoculars, your view will be impaired by this.
Carnivore Territory
Again, the enclosures here were all of a pretty good standard - mostly the same style as at Howletts, with thick vegetation and some distance from the path rendering luck a big factor when spotting the carnivores. Fortunately I was rather lucky, and saw everything I wanted to see. There are a fair amount of offshow enclosures visible away from the paths in this area if you look out for them - in one of them, we spotted the first rusty-spotted cat of the day... which had spotted us first, and was watching us carefully! The multiple margay enclosures are particularly excellent, with lots of climbing opportunities on various levels, but the best enclosure in this area - ironically, being as we failed to spot anything inside - has to be the "new" Pallas cat construction, which is a pseudo-walkthrough and which would have provided excellent photography opportunities had we been a little luckier.
Along an offshow path leading downhill from the lion and cheetah enclosures marked on the map, 1,1 of the offshow brown hyenas are held - thanks to the aforementioned carnivore keeper who agreed to show us the species, we managed to see the male, who was incredibly active and incredibly greedy
the keeper was very friendly and willing to answer our questions - in fact, this is a good place to note that the staff we encountered were all very friendly and helpful.
African Experience
And now the bit I suspect a lot of you will be interested to hear a Port Lympne newbies point of view on. Hoofstock, although I find them quite interesting on a case by case basis, are not my first love - as such I probably won't visit this part of the park again unless they bring in something new before my next visit to Port Lympne. This would be the case whether the changes to accessibility had happened or not. The range of species held in the Experience was quite impressive, and the views from the hillside even moreso. The fact that we had to go on safari trucks to see this area really did not bother me in the slightest; however the trucks *were* rather lacking in suspension and pretty uncomfortable to be in. I suspect this is more an issue with the vehicle stock they had to work with, rather than an issue with the area itself, so it did not unduly impact my enjoyment of the whole other than making it difficult to get photographs from the vehicle.
One thing which I intended to observe to the carnivore keeper I spoke to, in relation to this area, was that in the main safari area, I briefly observed a cross fox running down the hillside! This momentarily took me aback, as I had not heard of them being seen in the UK before - in fact, until I realised it was indeed a cross fox, I wondered whether Port Lympne had mixed black-backed jackals with the hoofstock unnoticed by anyone on here.
Overall
Primates - 8/10
Carnivores - 10/10
African Experience - 7/10
Map - 6/10
Staff - 10/10
Overall "feel" - 8/10
In summary, I will definitely be visiting this collection again - although next time, having seen the hoofstock I wanted to see this time around, I will be able to devote all my time to the carnivores and primates! Anyone who has not visited, and has been put off by criticism of the changes, will find much to enjoy here.
He had also been tormented by children and has continued a lifelong dislike of them- he would often charge the glass if groups of niosy children are present.
).
so they can never be closed/emptied- unless the remaining animals went to other collections.