Butterflies and the Marquis of Bath

Whilst away we also visited Butterfly World in Swindon.  Im not sure if its a franchise as I have seen a few similar named ones but it definitely was worth the visit, the Butterflies are amazing.   There was also a temperate as well as a tropical section and I spent nearly 2hrs in them, popping outside occasionally to cool down.  Just a couple of pics from the couple of hundred that I took.  The first one is an African Swallowtail

Next is the Rice Paper Butterfly (psst Black and White Rule)

Next day we spent a day in Longleat.  Not a bad place except for hundreds of kids running round and that was on a Thursday and School was still on.   The small Bat House was great, the Butterfly House was OK but nowhere near as good as Butterfly World.  The Monkey House was closed (damn).  It was difficult to decide whether I really liked the place or not, the grounds, gardens, house, lake and the safari park were great but the problem was the many shops at every attraction, the many places to eat at every corner and the bloody prices they charge (makes Motorway Services look cheap).  Another niggle was that we arrived at 9.30am to get a full day in but nothing really opened till 11 and some at 12.  Anyway I think it was just worth the entrance fee.  Unfortunately I did take a few pics but will let you suffer a couple.  We thought that it was bad up here with Grey Squirrels but we saw lots down there.   This one was in the Wolf enclosure.

Lots of deer around, this one standing right next to the car

Of all the wildlife there I found this one of the most interesting, the Leafcutter Ant