We had a trip back home to Devon a few weeks ago, tomato-sitting for parents. There’s only so many times you can see relatives without wanting a day to yourselves, so we took Tiny to Paignton Zoo.

It’s been a long time since we last visited; certainly since before they lost their elephants (their last one, Duchess, died in 2019). But we thought we ought to take advantage of Tiny still being a cheap ticket; not free, but for £2.50, cheap enough. That, and it’s always exciting to see tigers and lions and the great apes.

So, we packed a picnic and Tiny’s palanquin, and got there for opening time, having booked online the day before. Tickets are slightly cheaper if you book online.

And started with the tigers. Well, the flamingos really, since their lake is plainly visible from the queue.

I always forget, perhaps because we don’t often visit zoos, quite how big they are, and how much walking you do to get around them. Tiny stayed in the palanquin for most of the day, mostly only leaving it to have a run around in the various play-grounds or demand ices. It was a hot day.

Even the apes preferred the shade of indoors. They have a very cute baby orangutan, Ranbi, only a few weeks older than Tiny. Although Tiny seemed more taken by the four giraffes a bit further on.

And then the meerkat tunnel. Tiny deigned to leave the comfort of the palanquin to run back and forth through that for a good while, only lured away by the promise of an ice lolly.

The crocodile swamp, in retrospect, was probably a bad idea, on such a hot day, but they were fascinating to see, especially the pretending-to-be-a-log sunda gharial.

Surprisingly, Tiny managed to stay awake for almost the entire visit, falling asleep only as we headed back to the exit after seeing the red pandas (balls of red fluff sleeping high in a tree). And then remaining asleep for the transfer to the car-seat. Fortunately, we’d seen almost all the animals by then.

All in all, an excellent day out for all of us.