After yesterday‘s rapid tour of Scotland we took things at a more relaxed pace today and headed north to the Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre in Perthshire. After driving out past Comrie and Cultybraggan we turned onto the (very) rough track to the wildlife centre, avoiding a peacock as we parked next to an enclosure full of prairie dogs.

We paid our entry fee and went straight to the café for some great “home-cooked” lunch, then made our way out into the bright spring sunshine. The main enclosure in the middle of the centre is home to (amongst other things) prairie dogs, chickens, goats, porcupines and wallabies, and is surrounded by covered walkways which link up to the other parts of the centre.

As well as the enclosed animals, there are plenty of birds wandering around – from chickens and ducks to peacocks. We were lucky enough to see a peacock in his full glory, distracting visitors from the wallabies.

Although perched on top of a small hill, Auchingarrich is itself surrounded by hills, making for great views from the centre (improved of course by animals in the foreground).

We walked up to the back of the centre where there were several Highland cows basking in the sun.

And then we moved around to the smaller enclosures, to see meerkats, wildcats, monkeys and various birds.

Beside these smaller enclosures is the hatchery, and judging by the excited noises coming from the building, there was plenty to see. The highlights being young chicks.

After spending a good few hours walking around we decided it was time to leave, and on our way out we spotted the famous tartan sheep!

The relaxed pace had taken its toll, and it was actually later now than I had expected it to be, so we sped down to Doune to see Doune Castle on the way back to Glasgow, but unfortunately it was just closing, so we had to make do with the outside.