Thursday, 7 May 2020

America Christmas 2016-2017

Heyy,

So I know it says 2016, well since then I just havent had the time to write any posts or anything like that as ya know life takes over!

Okay, christmas holiday from 2016.

So this Christmas we decided to go away for a holiday, we thought itll be a nice idea to go to America in the Great Smokey Mountains. Well this holiday was amazing, not as good christmas as I thought it was going to be, but it was still good to spend time with the family away from England for a bit.

So we started with getting to the airport nd collecting our truck, it was a big one, called Dodge Ram 1500. It was pretty big haha. We got in the truck with our luggage in the back and headed to our accommodation for the holiday. This happened to be a small little cabin in the mountains of Great Smokeys.

We got to the cabin with a few stops on the way to have a look at the scenery, which I must say was beautiful (Will attach photos to the bottom of post).

We had an itinery for the holiday but it didnt always go to plan as we had a few mishaps with things (but ive forgotten why haha). We planned a few different exciting things which we all was looking forward to.

We also had a few days planned after new years, just before we leave to go home to visit mum and dads friends Gaby and Mike who live in the area. We also visited them at the begining of the holiday to have a catch up for a day or two, which was nice.

During this holiday we went to a few different places as I explained previously. So to get to the exciting bit, the bits we had planned.

We went into the local town a few times, which was called Gatlinburg,  A nice town that had quite a few nice little shops and restaurants. We went out of town into the mountains most of the time, to explore driving around, finding some nice little stops on the way to look out onto, which was nice and also some little walks we went on which was lovely to get out and about for a bit.

We planned also one day to go to the moutain zipline which was amazing I must say! With this there were 8 lines, that we would have to zipline down on hehe. Its amaazing to do, the views were spectacular. All the lines were different sizes, as you went down the mountain and on the end one the last thing we had to do was absale down a tree to get to the bottom. It wasnt long just a bit scary as hadnt done for a while (Since my America trip haha). It was fun, at the end of the it all we had smores next to  an open fire pit which was nice.

One of the days we went on a rail road ride, which was an old steam train ride with food and drink involved. Sitting down on the old trains with a proper table and chairs. The steam train was called Great Smokey Mountains railway. This was a round trip, so there and back again which was nice. Nice to see some of the mountains and bridges across the water falls.

One of the days we went to Atlanta Zoo. Hehee my choice as had to go there, couldnt go to a place with a zoo, and not go to the zoo when have chance to haha (thats the animal lover and zookeeper there haha).

Atlanta zoo wasnt far from where we were at the cabin, cant remember how far but hey ho. We got there parked up and paid for our tickets and then followed the map of where to go and to see as many animals as possible. It is a great zoo with many different animals and good enclosures for them, I would definately reccomend if anyone gets the chance to go. Some good pictures will be attached at the bottom.

The last thing I remember was new years eve, we went to a lovely place that over looks the mountains and they would have had fireworks, I say had because Gabbie unfortunately wasnt well that evening and didnt feel like doing anything, so we ate dinner and had some drinks and then went back to the cabin to chillax a bit (especially a little bit in the hot tub that we had outside on the veranda of the cabin).  I forgot to mention that part haha, the hot tub was lovely, especially on the cold days where it was misty in the mountains, nice to be warm in the tub and have the coldness of the air outside and the views too to look at and relax to hehe.

Thats about it really from what I remember haha, it went pretty quick to be honest, but it was a fab holiday and hope to do it again someday and hopefully with mine and my sisters partners too.






































Thursday, 27 July 2017

Long time no speak....

Hey guys,

Sorry again it's been such a long time since I've posted

I've had a lot going on in my life and havent physically been able to post or go online to write any drafts of anything.

It's been about a year and a half wince I've last posted on here. Within the last year and half I've been so busy with my life,  finishing my university BSC (hons) degree at Chester University last year in 2015, finding someone who I can be myself with and have adventures with, doing a 4 week work experience at Shepreth Wildlife Park (which I'll do another post about in the future when I get some time to write it),  Going away to America for 2 weeks at Christmas for the first time in my life which was a good experience and much more. I've also been to some zoos on my travels in the last year and a bit which I'll talk about in another post as well.

Okay that's it from me this time, just thought I'd give a small post about I'm sorry haven't posted

I will be updating (well going to try and update) the blog of my travels, what I've been doing and what I plan to do etc..  and continue to do as I'd like to keep this blog going

As the blog name says.... Once a keeper always a keeper :)

Friday, 25 December 2015

Its been another long time....

Heyyy to my readers....
Sorry I havent posted in a while, been so busy lately with coming back from america for three month, sorting that stuff out and then Ive started back at University for my third year studying a Zoo Management BSc.

I will try to post when I can, American zoos, English zoos, and any other interesting articles I come across.

Thanks for bearing with me!

xx

Monday, 17 August 2015

It's been a long time...

Heyy Guys,
So.. Im currently touring the USA on a road trip around the East Coast, which I have been doing for the past month or so, we have around 4 1/2 weeks left so I shall try and update the Blog when I arrive back home.
I am also visiting a number of the US zoos, so I shall be writing posts on them as soon as I arrive home, but for now enjoy reading my previous posts.
Thanks for bearing with me, and understanding!
Hope to see you soon!
xx

Friday, 1 May 2015

Colchester Zoo....

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, been so busy lately! 

Anyways, I had the chance to go to Colchester zoo the other week and I have decided to make a post and review the zoo.

Once through the entrance, thought it was a good idea to start from the furthest point of the zoo then work our way around, and just go and see the enclosures we wanted to see. The zoo has improved a lot again since I last visited (well since I completed my placement) back in June 2014.

They have literally just recently updated their Penguin enclosure, they have also (Just before I completed my placement) opened their new Sun Bear enclosure, and also opened a new lorikeet walk-in enclosure (which I didn't get chance to visit, but I shall definately be sure to visit that exhibit next time!). 

Started at the Africa section, so we went to the Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos and Elephants. These are incredible animals with a pretty good sized enclosure. The fact that the zoo have Zebras, Rhinos, Giraffes and Kudos in the same outdoor enclosure is great! It encourages natural behaviours because they would be in the same environment in the wild (although it would be over thousands of miles in the wild). The elephants are in a separate enclosure (most probably due to their size), but despite being in a one species enclosure, they still have a pretty good sized outdoor.
Elephant Enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
African Enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
African Enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
We then headed over to the lions enclosure, this enclosure is a good size, but could be done with being a little bigger although what do lions do all day?! They sleep and rest for most of the day apart from when they are hunting, so I guess this is a good size enclosure for the three lions (1 Male, 2 Females). Reviewing from a visitors point of view, it is a good enclosure as you can see all around apart from the bushes at the front being a bit high, but then the animals need their privacy don't they?!, however there is a small staircase with a high viewing point to be able to allow the visitors to see the lions more clearly from a different perspective. 

Part of the African Lion enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
The next enclosure I shall review is the new penguin enclosure along the Inca Trail. This enclosure has just recently been updated. It is the same size, just some of the visitor perspectives and I guess just the way it looks such as the substrates and the water is more purer and cleaner than it was previously. 

The new enclosure has a new viewing platform for visitors, this overlooks the whole enclosure, it overlooks the penguin pool. It allows the visitors to see the penguins much better than before, but still giving the penguins privacy when needed.
New Penguin enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
New Penguin enclosure 
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
New Penguin enclosure 
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
The last enclosure I am going to review and chat about is the new (well new ish) Sun Bear enclosure. I really like their new enclosure, as it allows their natural behaviours to be expressed a bit more than it used to, and gives them a bigger space to express these behaviours.
Sun Bear Enclosure
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
Sun Bear Enclosure 
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
Sun Bear Enclosure 
(Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo)
Well all in all as a whole, Colchester Zoo is up at the top for my list of zoos that I've visited so far. It is a great zoo, with good visitor interactions such as giraffe and elephant feeding (where the public can feed the animals with browse), and with also many talks and encounters to encourage the public to learn more about the animals at the zoo. There is also many information boards around to educate the visitors about the animals around the zoo.


The zoo is always carrying out improvements, and I do mean every time I visit the zoo there is always something new to go and visit, no matter how many times I visit.

So I do recommend this zoo to anyone who hasn't or even has visited before to visit these new enclosures to see for yourself how great these are!

Sunday, 1 February 2015

Elephants in Tourism (Asia)....

I found this an interesting article, it's about elephants that are used for tourism in Thailand and about an elephant sanctuary that rescues these animals from just that.

http://expertvagabond.com/elephants-in-thailand/

This article explains that the elephants used for tourism are kept in horrible conditions, chained up and used just for money in tourism. There is also a twist to this article because it explains about ENP (Elephant Nature Park), this is where they rescue elephants that have been mistreated and used for tourism and circuses. 

It explains about the elephant tourism industry, which mistreats these animals, and how elephants NEVER forget about anything. The ENP helps rehabilitate these animals (although they shall never forget what happened to them), they still try to help, and give the elephants the life they deserve which is in better conditions to live in (also meaning living in a herd) and also given better and more food, the food they need.

At the ENP, you can get up close and personal with these great animals, helping to rehabilitate them and you also get to learn about this precious species, learning about their natural behaviours and how spectacular they actually are. 

By helping out at this facility in Thailand you get to interact with these amazing animals and your money will be going towards the cost of feeding and caring for these animals, and also towards expanding the size of the sanctuary. 

So if anyone ever comes across being in Thailand, please don't go towards the tourism elephant trekking or anything else to do with elephant tourism (due to what is stated in the article) and I sure do hope you visit this sanctuary instead, either on a day trip or for volunteering for a week. This will certainly be of help to the sanctuary and also it will give you a once in a lifetime chance to get up close and personal with these animals.

I myself sure will definately try to volunteer for a week when I get the chance of course, as I feel this will also work towards my work experience to put on my CV/Resume and of course as stated above it will be a once in a lifetime experience for me to encounter.       

Thursday, 22 January 2015

Orphaned animals

Found this on sky news the other day....

http://news.sky.com/video/1398834/mother-needed-for-adorable-ape

This orphaned orangutan was moved from Budapest Zoo to be introduced to a new family at Monkey World in Dorset, which hopefully a new family (+ the keepers for a while) will be able to take care and provide what is needed to this small orphaned baby.

I think monkey world will do a great job of creating a new family and introducing the baby to a whole new world, whilst providing the right husbandry requirements the baby needs to grow into adult hood.

http://www.monkeyworld.org/

Above is the website to the rescue centre that rescues and rehouses neglected, orphaned or unwanted primates.