This weekend we were invited to a special VIP day out at Woburn Safari Park with Vauxhall to celebrate their all new family-friendly Crossland X.
We got up nice and early and made the 2.5 hour drive to Woburn where we were greeted at the gate with a fabulous goody bag for the kids and then enjoyed a scrummy breakfast in the Safari Restaurant whilst waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive.
We enjoyed a short talk on the Crossland X which is promoted as a family car / SUV crossover, combining space and style with a family friendly price-tag and then it was back to the cars for a special Safari drive-through experience.
Seeing a dozen Crossland X cars in a rainbow of colours driving in convoy through a safari park was almost as exciting as seeing the animals.
Isaac was in charge of photography for me and did a brilliant job of capturing fantastic images of all the animals.
We were not expecting to find North American black bears on our safari, but we saw 6 of Woburn’s 10 bears as we drove through their enclosure and were surprised at how agile they were as their clambered up the trees.
The winding road takes you through pastures of Bison, Zebra and Wild Horses and Vauxhall’s photographer got some amazing pictures of the cars as a backdrop to the wildlife.
From the grasslands it was then onto the Savannah where we spotted the white rhino, antelope and ostriches.
The big cats are always a highlight of a safari, but I am not sure they were really enjoying the rather damp and overcast UK weather.
Only the tiger bravely lay on the top of his sleeping platform, whilst the lions hid in their shelter.
Next up were the Rothschild’s Giraffe, who were enjoying roaming their winter enclosure.
The final location for the drive through was the African Forest which is home to a troop of cheeky monkeys.
I have to admit that I thought Vauxhall were quite brave letting us drive through this section as the monkey’s are notorious for trying to take apart anything brave enough to drive in, however, they were on their best behaviour and the most we got were a few muddy footprints and a slightly chewed aerial.
The drive through was then followed by a walk-through tour where we got to see meerkats and prairie dogs.
There was also a chance to feed some Lorikeets which I have been trying to persuade the kids to do for ages. Eliza finally plucked up the courage and loved it so much we had to do it twice!
Sadly we only had an hour to explore this area, so we missed the penguins and sea lions, but instead headed 10 minutes up the road to Chicheley Hall for lunch and afternoon tea as a Mothers Day Treat.
I have only had afternoon tea once and was disappointed, but this was amazing. There were sandwiches, scones and the all important cakes and the kids loved it as much as I did.
To add to the day, there was also entertainment for the kids which they thoroughly enjoyed and it gave us adults a chance to relax, chat and enjoy the afternoon.
With balloon modelling, games, singing, dancing and random face-pulling the kids did not want to leave.
Thank you Vauxhall for a fabulous day out, we all thoroughly enjoyed it and thank you for the use of your photo’s – Isaac did a fine job for me, but only of the animals and not the cars!
We previously took the Crossland X on holiday to the Lake District and you can read my review here.
What a fantastic day out! It looks like you had a lot of fun. I really should plan a day to Woburn!
Looks like you had a fantastic time, we love Woburn Safari Park, I have been going there since I was a child. The Vauxhall looks like a great car too, they make great cars.
Oh what a fab day out! I’ve never driven a Vauxhall before, I really need to! Love the look of Woburn, it’s on our bucket list for the year!
What a great day out, it’s a brilliant way to see the animals close up. They were brave letting you take the cars in there!
Looks like you had an absolutely fantastic time!
I love the shot of the convoy I had the Italian job in my head…i know much bigger cars but to me all car conveys mean Micheal Caine
Sounds like a great day out and love the rainbow parade of Crosslanders! My mummy has a similar shade car to the gold/bronze looking one!
What an amazing idea for a day out. I can imagine how much fun it was.
This looks like an amazing family day out, I would love to go to a safari park someday x
What a brilliant day out, I can’t believe they let those lovely card into the monkey enclosure!!!! Although if it stands up to them then it must be a pretty robust car!! Nice afternoon tea too
What a great experience, my lot love exploring safari parks too, a great way to see animals in a bit more of a natural environment. Seeing the line of rainbow matching Vauxhall’s is such an unusual sight to see, I bet the kids loved seeing them all. Great to see that Eliza plucked up the courage to feed the Lorikeets, I bet she’ll be begging to go back and do it again soon.
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
I’ve been here before too and had such an awesome time! Its incredible to be able to get so close to the animals xxx
Very brave to let you drive through the monkeys – my goodness! A great day out – animals, tea and cake and lots of fun. We always let the kids drive when we are at a safari park but not sure if I’d risk it with someone else’s car! #CountryKids
I do like a safari… one day I’ll get to Kenya! This looks like a fab day out and to finish with a mothers day treat like that looks great x
Well done Isaac for the fabulous photos! He did a great job 😀 The car looks fab, perfect for a day out x
This looked so much fun! I would love to see the bears climbing. That photo of one in the tree is amazing. We have only ever been to West Midlands Safari Park so we must visit Woburn some day. I agree they were brave lending the car to go through the monkeys!
looks like such a fun day out! Brilliant pics of all the animals too! x
What a fantastic day out! We recently reviewed the Crossland X. I really liked it. My husband, not so much but then he’s not really into “family cars”, he’d rather have a Porsche or a Ferrari and leave the kids at home! #CountryKids
They were very brave with the monkeys. I would like to take the boys on a safari but Hubby won’t let me book it with his car! So I am going to have to wait a long time lol. Hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day the afternoon tea looks great! x #CountryKids
Woburn Safari Park looks like a great day out. I’d be nervous taking a car through the monkey area – glad they were well behaved on your visit! I love the photo of the bear in the tree and the rainbow convoy of cars. Well done to Eliza for being brave enough to feed the Lorikeets. The afternoon tea looked fab too 🙂 #countrykids
Seeing safari with a car, well interesting. I like the curious monkey 🙂