Thetford Forest Day 5 - Banham Zoo

The final day of our little camping trip to Thetford and after a shower and some breakfast the first big job of the day is to get packed. Joshua was very keen to help out although perhaps he was a bit too keen at times with pulling out tent pegs! Its incredible the amount of stuff we took away with us and we had a few comments from passing campers about how it will never fit in our car - but it did!

Joshua helping fold the air beds.

We were keen to make the most of our time in Thetford rather than just dashing home once we were kicked off the camp site. So we decided to head off to Banham Zoo for the day. I had heard very little about Banham prior to going there and thus had no preconceived ideas about it. Having been there now I would go as far as to say it is one of the cleanest, best laid out and spacious zoo's I have been too. Certainly a day well spent.

No trip to Norfolk is complete without a tractor ride.

We need one of these in our garden as the boys could play on this for hours and not get bored.

The boys got to get some hands on experience with milking a cow. Although Brandon's comment was "the cow is doing a big wee wee!". 

Big wee wee time.

In the farm area the boys got to get up close and personal to some little baby goats.

At full stretch Joshua can is so tall now he can hold hands with a T-Rex.

Combat sports, first these kangaroos were cuddling each other, then it turned into a boxing match.

Not much to say here, its a Zebra.

From the moment we arrived at Banham all Brandon kept on about is that he wanted to see the giraffes. A bit odd really because other than an old wooden giraffe he painted some time ago, he has never really shown an interest in them. We eventually found the giraffe enclosure and it was pretty impressive and had a very good high balcony / walkway which allowed you to get a really good view of the animals. The giraffes were definitely Brandon's highlight of the day and as such he chose to buy a fairly large stuffed giraffe toy in the gift shop at the end of the day.

For Joshua, I think the highlight of his day was the high wires. When me and Amy first saw this obstacle course we thought there was no way Joshua would be allowed on it. However they had a lower-high wire course which over 4's could go on. It still looked pretty hair raising in places and was a good 15-20ft up in the air. Although he was strapped into a safety harness I did not feel completely comfortable with Joshua going on his own and therefore decided to pay extra and accompany him. If anything this was a mistake as he was completely fearless and made the course look far easier then I did. In fact I had trouble keeping up with him!

Hard hat on, harnessed up and ready to go.

And off we go on our ascent.

Joshua navigated the obstacles completely fearlessly.

Down the zip wire.

Balance beam, see-saw.

Now I have to admit I struggled with these log steps, not Joshua though.

And then down the final zip wire to finish.

Brandon was not old/tall enough and had to settle for the children's play area. Next year though!

The boys know this animal purely as Madagascar - "I like to move it, move it!".

We got to witness a rare red panda having a feeding session.

Auntie Nicky's favourites, the otters.

Mid way though our day out we took some time out for a trip around the zoo on the tiger stripped train. Always a favourite of the boys. 

And that brings to an end yet another holiday for the boys. Nothing else currently planned until Lapland at Xmas. Overall I think our first proper camping holiday was a major success and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It may not have been perfect for preparing to go to a wedding, but it was perfect for quality family time and for having a bit of an adventure. I think the future will definitely hold more camping trips for the King family.