Tag Archives: tiger

Welsh Mountain Zoo

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Back in late February this year, we had a family day trip out to the Welsh Mountain Zoo, nestled high above Colwyn Bay in North Wales. Despite the time of year, it was a mild day and no rain – so not too bad being out doors. We were keen to explore somewhere different – all of us had been to this zoo before, but not for a good few years.

We climbed up through the back roads of Colwyn Bay to reach the zoo. The site is spread out across the heights with a grand view of the mountains on one side, and the coast on the other. Pretty spectacular.

There were plenty of other visitors on the day, but due to the time of year it wasn’t too crowded. Ideal to get a good view of some of the wonderful species to be seen here. There’s a wide variety of animals to see – including some pretty spectacular favourites – so no need to worry that we wouldn’t be entertained.

The sea lions were the first creatures we found, looking sleek as they zoomed around doing laps in their pool. There were also flamingos, penguins, red pandas, otters and of course, the ever popular meerkats. I particularly liked seeing the otters, we had to wait patiently for them to make an appearance but it was worth it.

The chimpanzees are always a favourite, and there were several other primates as well: tamarins, lemurs and gibbons for a start.

The big cats were the absolute top tier sight of the day though. The snow leopards looked beautiful as they prowled around. The tigers were amazing and my favourite, without a doubt: it was incredible seeing these magnificent creatures in real life. Sadly, I couldn’t get a decent photo, but just seeing them was thrilling enough.

Along with a camel and whole bunch of reptiles and amphibians, there was plenty for us to do before the inevitable trip to the gift shop. The Welsh Mountain Zoo was an excellent day out, it was fun and educational, learning about the impressive conservation work they’re involved in. We’ll visit again. In the meantime, this report and a few photos will commemorate our adventure nicely.

Visit he Welsh Mountain Zoo here.

Chester Zoo

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Recently, I spent a day with some work colleagues doing some voluntary work at Chester Zoo. Despite living fairly close to the zoo, I’d not been there for a good few years. I’ve taken my daughter when she was younger, but haven’t been since.

After a hot day in the fields cutting down and then stripping willow branches for them to be used as food for the animals, there was some free time at the end of the day to have a look round the zoo itself. The sun was burning down that day, but I decided to have a quick look round to see as many of my favourite animals as I could – a “Greatest Hits” tour, if you will.

So I raced around and saw some rhinos – always one of my favourites since I was a little kid. Magnificent, huge animals, they were busy sunbathing or chomping away on food (provided by some other voluntary group?). Giraffes were next: if you didn’t know these creatures were real, you’d swear they were the invention of a crazy mind.

Elephants are always a joy to see, and the Asian specimens at Chester Zoo always remind me of Disney’s The Jungle Book (which I love).

Then it was off to find the lions. I was unlucky here though, sadly – they were all hiding in the shade. Fair enough, really. I was much more fortunate with the jaguars. One of these beautiful big cats was contentedly wandering around their indoor pen and came up really close, providing a fantastic close up.

After quickly checking out the penguins and a Komodo dragon, it was time to split. There was time on the clock, but I really needed to get home for a shower after such a hot day!

As a result, I missed out on some of my other most admired animals, such as the tigers, chimpanzees and the amazing bats in their night zone. But having had such a good time, I decided it won’t be long till my next visit to see what I missed.

Thanks to Chester Zoo for a fun and educational day.

You can check out Chester Zoo here.

Platinum Al’s Instagram Top 9 2023

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Yes, I’m on Instagram too. And I did that thing where you can get a snapshot of your most “liked” Insta posts of the year. To be honest, my engagement on that social media platform is plummeting, but I still decided to check out the stats. It’s a bit of a trend for me, this year, looking into the numbers.

Usually my Instagram posts are pics of vinyl from my collection, or beer (I’ve got a massive backlog of beer photos I haven’t posted yet). Other than that, you might get to see some skateboards, Star Wars toys or other action figures, comics and so on.

In the image below you’ll see the Top 9 images. 

For your information, here’s a breakdown of what those images are. Top left is most popular, bottom right is least.

  1. Glamour model and Page 3 Legend, Tracey Coleman, in a bunny girl outfit. I posted this at Easter. It was the most popular photo (though I didn’t take it, obviously).
  2. Racquel Welch: posted after she sadly passed away in 2023. One of my idols.
  3. Cliff Burton Reaction Figure: action figure of the legendary Metallica bass player.
  4. Bryn Celli Ddu: a photo of this awe inspiring, ancient burial site on Anglesey, Wales.
  5. Spud: our new cat, Spud.
  6. Me in a Barbie box, pretending to be a doll.
  7. My latest tattoo: the tiger head.
  8. Robinson’s Trooper Beer, in an appropriate glass, with a copy of Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” LP on viinyl.
  9. Headgirl 10″ picture disc: Record Store Day reissue of the classic Motorhead/Girlschool collaboration.

I posted dozens of other images in 2023, but those ones were the most popular from the thirty or so people who bother to interact with me on there.

Thanks for sharing these moments with me. If you like, you can follow me on Instagram: platinum_al.official.