Located an appallingly poorly sign-posted 10 minute walk away from the O2 arena, the Dinosaurs in the Wild installation is a travelling exhibition newly set up in my own fair city of London.
It works on a pre-booked time-slots basis to avoid the crowds. On a term-time Tuesday afternoon only a couple of weeks into its installation, it is still nowhere near full capacity and I and my companion for the day are able to mosey(saur) in 30 minutes early. The addition of a cloak room for coats and bags is a welcome feature.
The blinds are dropped and the time travelling pod judders and flashes (epileptics beware!) as it traverses back to the cretaceous era, where the blinds are raised and the pod develops 'wheels' to become a terrain traversing vehicle which 'drives' us the short distance to the research centre.
The route takes us through a 3D landscape of Triceratops, Alamosaurus.....es (?), T-rex and curious raptors climbing over the roof of the vehicle. From there we work our way through pathology labs, incubation tanks and general holding cells, meeting experts along the way. I shamefully hold back from asking questions, unsure as to whether our guides are genuinely dinosaur experts or simply enthusiastic actors. But they do encourage questions.
The tour of the centre eventually ends up at a viewing aware with windows to the North, South, East and West - each with a unique view of the surrounding landscape. Keep spinning, or you'll miss what is happening outside at any given time. The 3D imagery is convincing enough to lose yourself in the fantasy of being in an actual time-travelling Dinosaur Viewing Centre if you are so inclined.
I am! I grin like an idiot as I run from window to window while my more sensible companion devotes his time to a single window and eventually discovers he cannot capture the 3D image because his iPhone isn't wearing 3D glasses (his humour exceeds his ingenuity)
In time all goes awry and the Tyrannosaurs attack the base, forcing us to 'evacuate'. A back-up resort manages to get us back to our own time (more or less) treating us to a last glance of a Mosasaur in the process. Then its giftshop time, followed by a celebration drink at the pub. Yay to out-surviving the dinosaurs. Again.
A very enjoyable installation, taking around an hour to complete once the queues are out the way. At £25 per adult the ticket prices are steep, but worth it for the gimmick. The 3D images are convincing and entertaining, and the acting is equally convincing and captivating. A great family day out!
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