We went to the airport and got a plane and flew to Ireland and it wasn't a very long way so was really quick. And this is what I could see out of the window
And then we landed and got a bus and went to our hotel and it was right on the river.
And that was the view from the room with free cake and juice and coffee and even though you were high up you could see the bottom in the river because the water was clear and just a bit brown.
And then we went swimming and that was good too except for the boring bits and there was a ball and some floats too and it was fun.
One Saturday we went to the animal park AND WE SAW GIRAFFES there were ten of them.
They're really tall and called Rothschild Giraffes and they're the tallest of all giraffes and those things on their heads are made of bone and they have really big feet and they hit each other with their heads when they fight and you could see that some of the babies sort of matched their spots to the mums.
That one at the back is the male and then there's a mum and a baby and another one in the background and one of the babies is my one but I can't tell from that picture. He's called Houdini and that's because he escaped from the pen when he was even littler although they're never really very little because they're tall.
These are Lar Gibbons. The one sitting down sat right in the middle of the bridge and the others climbed over him and they're brilliant because they swing through the trees and run on two legs and they're funny.
The people in the park hang the rabbits from the yellow thing and then they have a thing that goes around the cage so the cheetahs have to run after it and try to catch it like in the wild and they go really fast.
These are Capybara and they can swim and they're the biggest rodents and I want one. but not as much as I want a giraffe.
The park was great because the lemurs and lots of the animals that just eat grass and things were allowed to just walk around and you could get really close to some of them and they had all different ones. We had lunch and watched Meerkats and there were some baby ones that weren't very good at anything and fell off things a lot.
Then the next day we went to an island that had a prison and a fort and everything on it but John might do about that.
30 comments:
Thanks for that Sherlock. It sounds like you had a great time.
I saw a cheetah chase down a gazelle once. It's breathtaking how fast they are. You think they're running fast until they're ready to catch it and then it's like they turn on the turbo engines and go even faster. Almost too fast for my eye to keep up.
I think they capybara might be my favorite of your photos. I always wanted to see a picture of a genuine rodent of unusual size.
That really sounds like a good birthday treat, Sherlock. Houdini is a great name for an escapologist giraffe and I suppose that even baby meerkats have to learn how to be good at being a meerkat.
Lancs. Anon
(My spell check wants to make meerkats into beermats)
Thank you sooooo much for telling us all about your trip to see the animals Sherlock, it looks like you had a lovely time and I'm not really jealous eventhough I wish I could have gone.
Did your class like hearing all about it today or were you too busy with learning more new things?
Thank you VERY much for the wonderful post, Sherlock! It sounds like your birthday weekend holiday was fun and exciting and interesting and altogether wonderful, I'm so pleased for you!
I especially liked the picture with the baby giraffes, and I have to say that sponsoring a baby giraffe is a marvelous birthday present! And Houdini is a very good name for a baby that can escape from a pen. :) The Lars gibbons sound like they are immensely fun to watch--but I always like the big cats best. I've only seen film of cheetahs running, but even that was breathtaking.
What a wonderful adventure! Thanks for sharing the pictures, Sherlock.
I had a giraffe kiss me once. It was at a wildlife park in Florida, where you would climb up into a little hut and feed them, and then sometimes they would lick you. It was really gross and slimy, but fun, too! The baby giraffe looks adorable.
Pandabob I told them some of it but haven't shown any pictures yet but I will.
I hope they like the pictures as much as we do Sherlock, you really are very kind sharing them with us :-)
Those are excellent pictures, Sherlock. Like kholly I think I like the capybara best, although the giraffes look impressive too. Sponsoring Houdini sounds like a great thing to do.
And Lancs Anon - your spellcheck clearly knows you too well ;)
That looks like an amazing animal park. I am going to be in England and Ireland in 2014, so I think I will have to find it and visit Houdini, just to say hello.
When you sponsor a giraffe, do they send you pictures now and then?
rsf
Somehow I think Sherlock might need to get a good grasp of allegory and parable (and quite likely koans!) first.
7yos (nearly typed 6yos!) are more into the surface than the underlying, and the surface things in the Old Testament are either unscientific (the surface of Genesis for example) or gory (all that smiting and enslaving and encouraging of the chosen people to dash heads onto rocks).
Personally I think he should follow my religion and be initiated into the mysteries of the Haynes Book Of Lies and the Book of Nicholson.
damn wrong blog! I need more tea
Thank you for the amazing post. Sherlock! The park was clearly the perfect place to visit for a birthday weekend. I hope the giraffe who was by himself will be able to rejoin his family soon :) The meerkats learning not to fall down must have been quite funny! Here's a picture, I hope the link works:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Meerkat_Family.OGG/mid-Meerkat_Family.OGG.jpg
Sherlock, I put some links to giraffe webcams up, but I goofed and did it on the previous post.
rsf
The giraffes are cute. Did they run at all while you were there? I've always wondered if giraffes can be fast or if their height makes them kind of ungainly. Of course, cheetahs are faster.
I'm excited to hear about the fort and the prison. Glad the birthday trip went so well.
ryo
Has Sherlock done a drawing of himself in his martial arts uniform? I would be quite curious to see one. Well, but I'd also be quite curious to see a drawing of a giraffe, too.
That sounds like a fantastic birthday weekend, Sherlock! Did you know that cheetahs, while not being feeble per se, are comparatively weaker when measured against other big cats? Instead of muscle mass and power like a lion or leopard, they rely more on startling their prey and then tripping it up while it's running - if an animal doesn't run when the cheetah bursts out of cover then the cheetah will actually ignore it in favour of pursuing one of its herdmates.
They also have claws that don't retract, so their pawprints can look a lot like canid prints.
And they're terribly fastidious - a leopard will drag its kill up a tree and eat it even when the meat is rotten, but cheetahs only eat freshly killed meat.
*cough* Er, right, end of African wildlife ramble. In short: great to hear you had such a good birthday :)
Dinner sounds lovely gentlemen, I hope the evening is giving you all time for fun and relaxation :-)
I'll have a double, then. A Talisker or a Jura or something nice.
do you know I actually have both of those in my kitchen, shame I can't really send them :-(
Okay, so anyone else want a drink? Pandabob's pint is on the bar.
I hope no-one's been flooded out. The roads in our area have some impressive puddles, but weren't impassable on my way home.
Ah, um, sorry for pushing John's blog over 200 comments. I'm not drunk, honestly :-)
*retreats to a corner with glass of wine and pint of Guinness*
One double coming up, L. I shall stick with the wine.
AnonyBob, I might come round yours then ;)
I could get some...but I'd only drink it. At least the cheap stuff doesn't call so loudly...
Thanks for the pint :-)
all roads don't lead to the north east SH at least not at the minute ;-) not sure whats made the national news but houses with no ground to stand on and roads with holes in them is the order of the day round here!
time to stay in and enjoy a cold pint I think ;-)
you'd be welcome to it Greg, no one else here to drink it :-) (long trip though!)
Anonybob - I saw the news reports yesterday; it looked appalling. That block of flats that was effectively standing over a giant hole on the ground - those poor people :-(
I hope you and yours are safe.
Luckily Nameless I live on a hill ;-) not sure how I'm going to get to my ma n pa's tomorrow but there's still time for roads to clear before schools out :-)
Anonybob, where is this? Google is failing me.
rsf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-19739824
not a brilliant link but newcastle upon tyne is were the flats lost the ground from underneath them!
Ouch. That's really quite frightening! Thanks for the link.
rsf
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