When my sister was here in December, we decided we wanted to do some fun things in London like ride the Eye and do the London Dungeon and the aquarium, etc. Lucky for us, there are these handy little things called Merlin Passes that just happen to include all of these things and more. Even luckier for us, they were having a special that ended up giving us a killer deal. So we basically got our money's worth the very first day using these passes which was all well and fine for Megan because she went home to America and too bad for her that the pass is no good to her anymore.
But we still live in England and our passes don't expire until next January. SO. I asked Forrest what he wanted to do on Saturday and we ended up at Chessington World of Adventure. Now, a quick disclaimer, this place is really probably mostly for kids but we had a great day anyway because I guess we enjoy childish things? It has a zoo, an aquarium, a safari adventure, and several roller coasters. We passed up the zoo and aquarium because let's face it, we've seen great zoos and we've already been to the London aquarium (which was a huge disappointment, actually, and if I had actually bought tickets for it, I would have been very upset. If you ever come to London, skip the aquarium.). We were basically there for the safari (which promised me rhinos and giraffes) and the rides. I even wore my safari pants.
Well, I'm here to tell you that I have come to expect very little from so called "attractions" in England and I was right to lower my expectations. I guess I didn't lower them enough though because I was still kind of disappointed. The safari or "Zufari" as they call it looks much bigger on the map than it really is and I was kind of mad (okay, not really mad, just a little whiny. you know, like a 6 year old) until Forrest pointed out how small the people were compared to the very large penguins and that the map was probably not proportionally correct.
Whatever. The bird walk more than made up for the Zufari (I just scoffed the name in my head) because I got to feed lorikeets and at one point I had five or six perched on my arms. When we first walked in, the bird-keeper told Forrest to cover the nectar with his hand until we got more toward the middle of the enclosure, so he did. This did not stop the lorikeets from attacking. They landed on him as soon as they realized what he was holding and they started biting and it was hilarious. Also, did you know that birds could lick? I have never experienced this before until a lorikeet licked nectar off of my hand. Then he bit me. I mean, I knew birds have tongues, I have just never seen a bird lick.
The best and definitely the most triumphant part of our day was right at the end when we got in line for the best roller coaster in the park, the Dragon's Fury. I said that in a really dramatic voice in my head, so. The cars spin around as you go and it was really fun but that's not the triumphant part. We waited in line for a while, probably 20 minutes. Right as we finished the ride, it started to rain. We got under the covered area and it started to hail. Really hard.
Then we laughed as all of the people who had been waiting in like for the last half-hour ran out of line to find cover from the pelting hail. I also felt a little bad for them, but mostly it was funny. It was okay that I laughed because I was wearing inappropriate shoes for rain and my feet were soaked. And my safari pants. If you need a lesson from this experience, let it be this: when in England, always wear a waterproof jacket and wellies.
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