Port Lympne Animal Reserve, Kent - Kids Go Free in September 2019

We've been to Port Lympne animal reserve a few times now and each visit has been so much fun. We've been in the summer when it was super busy and during a week day when the kids are at school and it feels like we're the only ones there (we're not!), and both occasions have been great fun. Earlier this week when most of the East Sussex and Kent schools had gone back we headed to Port Lympne with my mum and brother to visit for the first time. They'd heard so many great things from me that they didn't want to stay away.

Port Lympne is set is picturesque countryside, but it is quite a steep hill, so I was interested to see how we'd all cope as mum has COPD, I've got calf issues currently and my brother had a knee op earlier this year. I was so impressed that when I mentioned mum's condition to any of the staff they told me I could approach any member of staff with a radio, if we needed to, and they would get a minibus to take mum back to the top. It turned out we didn't need to, as we took it easy on the hills, made use of all the appropriately positioned benches and stopped to look at the animals as we went.

On the day we visited it was raining terribly when we awoke and we weren't too keen to wander around in the rain, so we left it a while for the weather to clear and thankfully by the time we got there at 1pm the skies were blue and the sun had come out. Mum was a little worried that we wouldn't get long at the park as we had only arrived at lunchtime but thankfully it doesn't close until 6.30pm, so we had plenty of time.

Review: Romantic Break for Two at Giraffe Lodge, Port Lympne Reserve, Kent

Recently it was my husbands 44th birthday and it happened to fall on his busiest work weekend of the year, so needless to say he slaved away and the day passed by pretty much unnoticed. I knew this would be the case so I was intent on finding a local night away for us that would be memorable. I needed it to be pretty close to where we live as we had limited time with a babysitter and at first I booked a night at the 5* Grand Hotel in Eastbourne for a spa stay over.

We then had our family day visiting Port Lympne Reserve in early August and as we travelled past Giraffe Lodge in the safari truck I knew this was where we were supposed to be staying. This really would be a special night away for the two of us, truly memorable and very different to anything we have ever done before. Thankfully when I spoke to Port Lympne they were very happy to host us and allow us to stay for the purpose of a full and honest review.

View from the Laapa restaurant, across the Romney Marshes and English Channel

8 Top Tips for Enjoying your Stay at Giraffe Lodge, Port Lympne Reserve

Back in August we visited Port Lympne Reserve for the day with our children. We had a super day out and all the family enjoyed themselves. As we rode the safari truck we passed Giraffe Lodge (formerly know as Livingstone Lodge) and I fell in love. 

I just knew that I had to go and stay in one of the sturdy canvas and wood lodges so that I could get the full animal experience without hardly any other people being there. The thought of waking in the morning with the full view of the Romney Marshes and the first thing I saw being a Giraffe, Rhino or Zebra was massively appealing. 

Well, on the 1st September my husband and I were lucky enough to stay for a night to celebrate his birthday and we had the most wonderful time. I'll share a full review of our experience in another post once I have edited all the video together but for now I thought I'd share eight top tips for an amazing stay at Giraffe Lodge within the Port Lympne Reserve. 

I seriously can not recommend this experience highly enough!

Reasons to be Cheerful - Feeding Giraffes, Time with my Mum & Being over 40!

Happy Thursday friends.

Can you believe it is September already? This year seems to be whizzing by in a flash and I'd quite like it to slow down really! The weather also seems to have moved into Autumn and I am thinking of packing my summer clothes away.

My parents and Aunt have been to stay with us for nearly a week and it has been good to have them here. They've been babysitters for us so we could have a night away to Port Lympne Reserve and also visit the cinema to see The Shack. My kids really love their grandparents so it is always special for them all to spend time together. I love that JJ chose to spend the day with them when he had an extra inset day off school. Many near 14 year old's would just stay home instead!

Here are my hubby and I getting settled into our home for the night last Friday. Giraffe Lodge was an amazing experience and one we were so lucky to enjoy. I love how happy my husband looks in this photo.

Take a Safari Experience in Kent with Port Lympne Reserve

My word, I have no idea how I missed this gem for such a long time. We've lived in East Sussex for just over four years now and a couple of friends had mentioned Port Lympne but just in passing. It's around 40 miles from me and I had (mistakenly) thought it was a small animal conservation centre, so I hadn't made any effort to take the family over there.

Then I sat down in June to plan our Summer holiday days out and was looking around the web for places to visit as a family. It is always fun to see somewhere new and my husband is a real bird and animal lover, so I was checking out zoos, farms and the like for him to be able to practise his photography. I came across the Port Lympne Reserve website and realised what we have been missing out on for the last four years!

Will we go back there, now we know?  An absolute yes, it is the most amazing day out and because so many of the animals are roaming free I bet it never feels like the same experience twice. Who knew there was a UK based safari experience? And don't think I am exaggerating, as we drove around in the safari truck we saw Giraffes, Water Buffalo, Antelopes, Rhinos, Eland, Greater Kudo, Ostrich, Zebras, Deer and Wildebeest and all of these were roaming free as we passed through their home. There are dozens more types of animals too but I'll mention more about those later.