This post reminded me of the last time we visited Woburn Safari Park...

At the time I had a Landrover Freelander that was a three-door model with a "soft back", you could roll the canvas roof up from the rear of the vehicle to about level with the back seat. For obvious reasons they don't let you drive through the Safari Park with a convertible (!) so I borrowed someone else’s car (the boss actually), also a Freelander but this time with five doors and no canvas roof.
So the day at the Safari Park was a great success, right up to the point where you drive through the part of the park where the animals would eat you (given the chance, like). The Lions, Tigers and Wolves were all pretty impressive, but they didn’t cause us any trouble, for trouble you need an American Black Bear.
Now, most animals at Safari Parks look at best indifferent to the tin boxes full of gawping morons that pass them all day, so it was quite refreshing to see one of the animals on the move and taking an interest in us. The bear crossed the road in front of our car, so we stopped to watch it walk into the trees on the other side, I was quite occupied trying to show Georgia the “big Teddy” walking about and didn’t notice him emerge from the bushes behind us.
You can probably imagine my surprise when Gentle Ben jumped on the back of the car and intimated (as best as he could) that he’d like to join us inside. I wasn’t positive of what to do at this point, I was fairly confident that he wouldn’t figure out how to open the rear door and make himself comfortable in the back (although, thinking about it later, I decided 400lbs of muscle probably doesn’t need a key…) so I wasn’t quite sure whether I should drive off at speed or reach for the camera. At this point, Ben (as I like to call him) was vigorously shaking the car by its spare wheel; I decided to move it!
I was really concerned for the Bear, I didn’t want to drive off fast incase he fell off and hurt himself, I was also quite concerned that if I did drive off in a cloud of dust he’d still be hanging on when we got back to Bicester… So I drove off at a little over walking pace in the hope that he would take the hint and go back to eating honey and stealing picnic baskets (‘cos that’s what Bears do, isn’t it?). Instead of heading off back to the woods, Ben held on with his front hands (paws?) and hopped along the road behind us, I’m sure it was a comedy moment for the occupants of the car behind us who did appear to have their camera ready.
By now our little melee had come to the attention of the guys with guns in the stripy orange Landrovers, they headed our way and Ben, showing some first class decision making skills, legged it. An anticlimax you might say but we were pleased to leave the park sans Bear and with only very minor damage to the back of the vehicle (which remained a good conversation piece for some time…)

Three months later we had another wilderness adventure in a couple of Freelanders (Company cars by the way), this one is another story but involved: Deer, Snow, Scotland, Peat Bogs, Police, The Forestry Commission, Hypothermia and a £700 bill for specialist winching gear.