South Africa, Day 2: Feb 3

Again, another rough night--I didn't realize how hard it would be to get on such an opposite time schedule!!! They are 9 hours later than Utah. It's hard enough as an adult, but nearly impossible with a little tyke! So we started a little late again, but we actually did a lot.

We went to the Lion Camp which was basically a glorified petting zoo. First thing when you walk in is a full-grown Nyala (or Deer-like-animal, aka DLA, as we like to call them when we can't keep them all straight!!!) It was the most beautiful thing and ate right out of our hands!!! Even the peacocks ate right rom our hands. Cecily was pretty scared even though it couldn't have been less threatening. Finally by the end of our trip, she warmed up to all the "amomols" and eventually pet a full-grown cheetah. But not having it yet.

We got to go into the cage of a little meerkat and he'd just crawl onto your lap and hang out. He was a really high-strung little thing, it made the funniest little noise when you tried to pet it, but it didn't bite. Kept scaring the crap out of me though. funny little bugger. He just sat and clawed at my pocket cuz he could smell my lip gloss. Of course, Ryan goes in and holds him and pets him like it's nothing. Seriously Ryan had a way with the animals.

Then we went on to pet a Lion cub. He was four-months-old, which is the oldest they will let visitors play with them so this one was a little rough and feisty. He grabbed my watch a pulled it off--super strong, there was no way I could get it away from him. When Ryan tried, it swapped at him and gave him a gash on his hand. I think it's pretty sweet that he can say he's been clawed by a lion--no one needs to know it was a baby.....oops too late :)

Then of course we saw the reason for the name of the establishment--there were some amazing full-grown lions, one of which was pregnant. They are white Lions, and just so beautiful. Nothing like you see at our Zoos. There's something about seeing these animals in their natural habitat and environment--they are so much more awe-inpiring.

We got to eat lunch overlooking the gorgeous landscape and animals. Like from a postcard--as was most of the trip.

Next we drove to Mpongo. Yes, you do say the "m", just as it looks: "mm-pongo". Ryan loved the m's in front of all the African words. He started to throw it in to his sentences, like, gosh I'm m-tired, or m-hungry. Ya, super lame, I know. I think only his brother Jonathan would really find the humor in it, or maybe some of his friends. That's my quirky little husband. Never a duyll moment though. :)



I couldn't believe this experience. This one only cost about $7 a person, and you drive through it yourself. I was hardly expecting to see anything, but we saw all the big animals except for Elephants (Lions are not in many of the Game parks because they kill all the other animals--they usually keep them separate and regulate what they can eat. They let them hunt as they naturally would, but it's just a little more controlled). I also couldn't believe how close they were. We took tons of pictures....








This guy wouldn't move out of the road for the longest time! I thought he was gonna charge!




You don't see a sign like this every day!


A sweet little baby zebra!