It might sound 'Simples' this summer, but munching on locusts and squatting among a mob of meerkats is no walk in the safari park. When Liverpool's Knowsley Safari announced that new this August Bank Holiday guests can camp overnight on site with bushtucker trials and BBQ, the Daily Express popped along for an exclusive peek.

But what I didn't expect was sitting in the meerkat enclosure while the African mongooses had a creepy-crawly snack - then staff 'treating' me to a crunchy lunch of locusts, crickets and mealworms. Unlike my experience, 'Camp Knowsley: Safari Sleepover' won't see guests released into the meerkat enclosure as the five bustling mammals Arty, Karoo, Sahara, Nayiri and Gobi scamper all over you.

Instead adventurous campers will sleep under the stars and access the park, BBQ, campfire fun and bushcraft activities like bug-eating, fire-lighting and shelter-building - as baboons and bears roar and howl through the night.

So how would it feel to stay after hours in a UK safari park, surrounded by woodland, 500-acres of safari wildlife, African lions, Amur tigers, giraffes, Andean bears, Bactrian camels, bush dogs, bald eagles and bison?

On arrival my first mission was to get in with the meerkats - I needed a new car insurance quote and just possibly they could help.

Their handler Jen, 34, first kitted me out with surgical gloves and made me disinfect my boots before we wandered into the five meerkats' open-aired rocky and dusty prairie-style paddock.

"Don't be tempted to stroke or stick out a finger or hand towards them or you may get a nibble", Jen warned.

Duly noted I kept my hands to myself but watched in wonder as they clambered all around me - as Jen scattered her box of live locusts and mealworms all over the compound to the thrill of the hungry quintet.

Baffled passersby stood and stared at the meerkats, Jen and I - no doubt wondering if I'd climbed into the enclosure for a prank and was being carefully 'encouraged to leave'.

Explaining the meerkats pack-like behaviour Jen added: "One of them will be on sentry duty and watch out for any threats.

"When they see a bird in the sky they'll make a call which means 'get to ground', so they'll all run into the burrows. But if they see a snake they'd do a different call because you don't want to run into a burrow if there's a snake.

"In that instance they'll all mob together, they'll make themselves look big and they'll all tackle the snake together to scare it away. They'll bare their teeth, they'll growl, they'll put the tails up straight - a mob mentality will drive the snake away."

Next we crossed over to the bush dogs to give them an early raw beef lunch. As they have razor-sharp teeth and claws we didn't go into their enclosure but chatted as Jen threw lumps of meat for them to find and scrap over.

Native to South America, bush dogs are the size of large cats, facially look like bears but are more aligned to wolves and are the world's smallest pack-hunting dog.

As the six bush dogs - Enrique, Shakira, Pepito, Marge, Luna and Sofia - dart around looking in the long grass for the tasty morsels, Jen told me: "They have semi-webbed feet, which is why we have the big pond, they're really good swimmers and they'll hunt for fish in the water as well.

"They love beef but we'll give them rabbit, goose, pheasant, hares - sometimes we'll give them the leg of a deer!"

Leaving them to devour their meaty meal it was time to take a quick look at the large safari tents guests will sleep in over the August Bank Holiday.

Large and airy, they come with airbeds - you just need to bring your own bedding. I tried out one of the beds and you'd have no problem dozing off after a long day trekking, shelter-building and with full bellies from the BBQ.

The Safari Sleepover includes full access to the Foot Safari where Amur tigers, giraffes, Andean bears and birds of prey can be seen, as well as the 500-acre Safari Drive - the UK's longest - complete with a crash of white rhino, pride of African lions, Bactrian camels, ostrich and many, many more species.

But it also comes with plenty of bushcraft skills, wilderness rescue, first aid, campfire skills and a bushtucker challenge of two - with some insect delicacies to nibble on.

Cue then adventuring expert Craig Geddes, who runs The Outdoors People working at Knowsley for a month to share their skills with guests over the summer holidays.

Joining Craig in the woods, under an already built tent shelter, there was no putting it off. It was creepy-crawly nibble time. He poured me a bowl that looked like the Bombay mix from hell - crickets, locusts and mealworms.

"Now the mealworms taste a bit like popcorn," Craig tried suggesting. He was dead wrong. At least it was dead. Couldn't have had them wriggling in my mouth.

"The crickets can be a bit smoky..." Craig said next. I wasn't too keen. There was definitely a crunch there. Hmmm, exoskeletons!!

Finally it was locust time. Definitely a sentence I never imagined I'd ever write.

"Now the trick here is to break the wings off first", Craig helpfully hinted. Off came the wings, in popped the dead locust, 'groan' heaved my stomach. Urgh!!!

I was helpfully reminded that the biggest crunch in my mouth was as I crushed the locust's head. Cheers for that. Check please waiter!! Tip? Yeah, don't try the locust.

Washing my mouth out with water, Craig could see things needed hotting up so he showed me how to light a fire - and I never thought of using cotton wool balls!

Craig created a cotton wool layer with kindling and then larger sticks on top, and it was great fun lighting the wool and seeing it roar into flame - in my mind I was seeing a Biblical inferno but in fact it was just a gentle flickering flame.

But still, enough to toast some marshmallows and even plonk his metal kettle on to brew a cuppa. The slightly charred marshmallows tasted so much better than the locusts.

Sipping our steaming hot tea, Craig revealed he founded educational non-for-profit The Outdoors People in York in 2017 after time as a dog-sledder in Iceland, in the United Arab Emirates's desert and even living in the Alps.

Married Craig, 41, explained: "We work nationwide. So, this year, we ranged from Torquay to Newcastle.

"We've been a non-profit since 2020 and that was the right thing for us to do as an ethical business. We have seven permanent staff at the moment but around 120 freelance staff.

"This year we are working at 100 schools across the UK with 5,000 schoolchildren and around 6,000 guests at Knowsley over the course of the summer.

"A lot of my staff fall on the ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) spectrum and would self-describe as such.

"We go to schools and the teachers sometimes say 'oh, a lot of our kids are very ADHD'. And I'm like, that's fine, so are all my staff, because kids who don't necessarily excel in class can get amazing opportunities doing this stuff.

"The kids come here, see the keepers working with the animals, us out here in the woods and they get the idea an office job is exactly what some people want - but not what everybody wants and not the only route in life."

Explaining how working outdoors has helped him when he suffered stress during and after lockdown, Craig added: "I just keeled over through overworking. I had pushed myself too hard.

"But I've been able to come out into the woods and do this stuff and see the kids getting that amazing time."

I cheekily ask Craig: "And when you want to have a breakaway with the missus and she says 'not the woods again! Can we go to the beach?' Has that ever happened?"

He replied: "I am very fortunate that my wife's a statistician who likes outdoors stuff and I'm an outdoors person who likes nerdy stuff. We kind of meet in the middle."

So what's my verdict on the night-time at Knowsley adventure? This Safari Sleepover will definitely be 'in-tents' but will be a hell of a lot of fun too - and possibly a unique experience to boot.

* 'Camp Knowsley: Safari Sleepover' is available to book now on the Knowsley Safari website costing £600 per tent, inclusive of all activities, tea, coffee and soft drinks.

To book visit here