Me & Benjamin Mee
My love of animals led me to watch the hollywood movie "We bought a zoo" last year. Little did I know just how much hope and inspiration this true story was going to give me. During the film, I sat and watched in awe at the heart break and lengths one man - Benjamin Mee took despite all the odds, to restore a dilapidated zoo from ruins in order to save the animals it contained. After the movie ended, I was captivated and wanted to find out more about the zoo and the real life story and people behind it.
On a beautiful sunny September day, it was the perfect window of opportunity to make a visit. We drove up from Cornwall with Marty's mum and dad to Plymouth, where we met his sister Jacqui, brother-in-law Romi and two excited nieces to make the final journey to Dartmoor Zoological Park.
As Marty was still making a steady recovery from his second operation of the year, it gave us the perfect excuse to take our time to walk around the park and enjoy all the shows that were on offer. One of our best and most memorable experiences was standing, watching and listening to the amazing roar of Soloman; a very vocal lion, who I am sad to find out recently passed away. The park certainly lived up to my aspirations and as planned, I purchased the book "We bought a zoo" by Benjamin Mee, which I couldn't wait to start reading.
The book was; as I expected, better then the Hollywood movie because it was the true, uncut version and was written by the man who has achieved so much with so little. I now take an avid interest in the developments of the zoo and last night, along with Marty, Jacqui and Romi, attended the Zoo's first ever "Evening with Benjamin Mee." As ever, things happen for a reason and we found ourselves sat on a table with a couple whom Benjamin knew. Therefore when he came and sat down, we were rather fortunate to be able to have a brief conversation with him before he went off to do his final presentation. Benjamin Mee is down to earth, enjoys a joke and a laugh, is friendly and very approachable (if you aren't a shy wally like I am!) and best of all just a normal guy, trying to do the best for his zoo. The evening ended on a high when we got our books signed by him.
On a beautiful sunny September day, it was the perfect window of opportunity to make a visit. We drove up from Cornwall with Marty's mum and dad to Plymouth, where we met his sister Jacqui, brother-in-law Romi and two excited nieces to make the final journey to Dartmoor Zoological Park.
As Marty was still making a steady recovery from his second operation of the year, it gave us the perfect excuse to take our time to walk around the park and enjoy all the shows that were on offer. One of our best and most memorable experiences was standing, watching and listening to the amazing roar of Soloman; a very vocal lion, who I am sad to find out recently passed away. The park certainly lived up to my aspirations and as planned, I purchased the book "We bought a zoo" by Benjamin Mee, which I couldn't wait to start reading.
The book was; as I expected, better then the Hollywood movie because it was the true, uncut version and was written by the man who has achieved so much with so little. I now take an avid interest in the developments of the zoo and last night, along with Marty, Jacqui and Romi, attended the Zoo's first ever "Evening with Benjamin Mee." As ever, things happen for a reason and we found ourselves sat on a table with a couple whom Benjamin knew. Therefore when he came and sat down, we were rather fortunate to be able to have a brief conversation with him before he went off to do his final presentation. Benjamin Mee is down to earth, enjoys a joke and a laugh, is friendly and very approachable (if you aren't a shy wally like I am!) and best of all just a normal guy, trying to do the best for his zoo. The evening ended on a high when we got our books signed by him.
Benjamin Mee signing his book at our table for Jacqui and Romi.
To fully understand why I find Dartmoor Zoo and Benjamin Mee so inspirational, you'll just have to read the book or visit yourself. This blog post is to remind me there are people in this world like Benjamin, who despite everything, beat the odds and don't just give up. It's to remind me when I'm having a bad day to pick myself up and dust myself down. It's to remind me how lucky I am to have met Martyn, who has lit my life up in a way I never thought possible. It's to remind me to be thankful for all the true friends and family I have. It's to remind me I no longer have to dislike my birthday because I can now, not only share it with my two beautiful Greyhounds who were born on 7 July 2005, but I can also share it with Dartmoor Zoological Park too, which opened on 7 July 2007. How much of a coincidence is that!
To find out more about Dartmoor Zoological Park, visit their website: www.dartmoorzoo.org
Or view their blog post from the evenings activities: An evening with....
To find out more about Dartmoor Zoological Park, visit their website: www.dartmoorzoo.org
Or view their blog post from the evenings activities: An evening with....
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