Just to prove we have probably gone mad, following our visit to the city zoo, we headed out for a day at the safari park at Sigean. It was a very different experience, driving round in first gear for the first part, getting pecked by an ostrich and trying to spot distant giraffes and buffalo. The spectacular rhinos were completely indifferent to us as were most of the animals. We guessed they were mostly idling away the afternoon having been fed earlier and so they were unlikely to do anything interesting. The dangerous animals bit involved camouflaged bears and lazy lions, guarded by a nonchalant keeper whilst we were urged to be paranoid at all times - DO NOT STOP WHATEVER YOU DO. It was a rather overcast day and didn't quite invoke a true sense of the wilds of Africa.

The remainder of the park was done on foot and was rather more expansive than we had expected, but was much better for getting up close to the giraffes, pot-bellied pigs, lady leopard, millions of birds, wallabies and so on. The chimps were right at the end, but were kind of entertaining from a distance. The elephants were disappointingly separate from everything.

A great day out for children, if a little sparse on facilities and quite a lot of walking in the end. We look forward to returning with our brood in the future. I guess it's the only way little ones ever get to see these kind of animals for real.