9 July 2014 –
Wakey wakey! Time to get up. It's a gorgeous day today!
Mark and Ava are making pancakes (from a mix) for us. Yum!
Ava wants to closely examine this little experiment – she placed an empty beer can into the fire last night to see if it would melt. It didn't melt:
Well, we forgot to buy syrup or bring toppings for the pancakes. Oops. I know what I'm putting on mine. Amarula. 😉 (only for adults though):
Busy eating breakfast…
Better eat up breakfast and then it's time to venture out to the Elephant Sanctuary just outside Hazyview.
We're here!
We're on a guided tour with an elephant ride at the end of the tour. 🙂 Sounds like fun!
Our guide is explaining to us about the African elephants that are living here and giving us a mini lesson on African elephants:
It's time to finally meet the elephants! We're going to meet two elephants today. I think our friends are ready to meet them!:
Here they come! Isn't it cute how the one is holding the tail of the elephant in front???
Our mini lesson on African elephants continues with real, live elephants! Our guides are also telling us about some of the differences between Asian and African elephants. The ears are one thing…anyone remember what the other differences are????
Isn't he beautiful???
Now we each get to go up and examine the elephants in pairs. Ava and Mark are getting their turn now. The elephant trainer is showing them different parts of the elephant:
Examining the trunk.
The tusks:
The big ears:
Their HUGE feet:
Their wet and sticky tongue…go on, touch his tongue! I dare you!! (they won't bite):
Posing for the camera:
Who wants an Elephant Kiss???? Looks like Ava does:
Now it's Mark's turn to get an elephant kiss:
Annika and I get our turn with the beautiful animal:
My turn! I want an elephant kiss too!!! (Annika chickened out) Hahahaha!!!! That felt really funny!
The marks from the kiss:
Debbie and Juandre are getting their turn now:
Marko and Croydon are getting their turn now:
Croydon also got a kiss:
Ever wonder what it's like to walk an elephant? Say what??? You mean like walking a dog? Yep! That's exactly what I mean….
And that's exactly what we're doing! Here Ava and Mark are walking their elephant by holding two fingers inside their trunk and leading the way. Sometimes they get stubborn and stop but their trainers help moving them along.
Annika and I are getting our turn to walk an elephant:
Marko is leading the way!
Our little family:
Our friends:
Darn it! I was trying to do bunny ears behind her but she turned and saw what I was doing.
Annika and Ava are first up for the elephant ride:
They're ready go for a spin! Bare back…
I'm doing the Asian posing…you know…having to do something with your hands:
Now it's Mark and me going for spin:
Did you know, that elephant hair is quite pokey? I'm so glad we followed Debbie's advice and wore long pants. It would really hurt if we'd worn shorts!
And I'm keeping a strong and close grip on the elephant trainer. Even though the animals are BIG and their backs are HUGE – I can feel myself sliding off little by little.
Debbie and Croydon are getting their turn now:
And there is Marko in front too!
Hi, guys!
Well, that was loads of fun AND educational!
Time for lunch at the little outdoor shopping area in town. We found a place called "In-Da-Belly". Cute name!
So…what are you going to have? I know what I'm having! (it's the chicken, camembert and marula drizzle):
Creme soda…a new favorite???
So… we have a few hours to kill before the night safari starts tonight. The guys mentioned that there's a reptile zoo close to the shopping area we're at right now. How about we go take a look?
Fun entrance!:
Looking for reptiles in each of the pits/cages. Sometimes they were easy to spot and sometimes they weren't! I think this pit had lots of turtles in it:
This friendly zoo-keeper gave a short demonstration on two of the reptiles. Here we're getting up close and personal with a bearded dragon:
Thanks for joining us this morning and afternoon! Now it's time to chill out and then we're off on the NIGHT SAFARI!!!