We have been all sitting around the house lately not really doing much and we were all starting to get bored of reading books, and doing puzzles, so Fi packed a picnic bag and piled us all into the car. The children asked where we were going and she said -"wait till we get there then you'll see!" Ooohhh ! I do like surprises...
It wasn't a very long journey, about 10 or 15 minutes. None of us needed to read what the sign board said, we could tell by the picture!
We stopped at the ticket office to get our tickets and a map - that was for the children to look at; Fi said the place wasn't that big that you needed a map... We also bought some jelly beans and postcards (of course - what else?). Then we stopped at the loo because you can't get out the car for a pee unless you want to be eaten for lunch. That made me nervous and I had to go back in for another little tinkle.
Fi said we would not see anything from the front seat so she put us on the dash board and told us not to mess about - as if!
Oops... NormaNikkers got so excited she fell off... Fi gave her a cross look and said that we had to calm down or we would be in serious trouble. The two children in the back laughed hysterically, because that's what they usually get told.
You might have heard about all the terrible fires across South Africa lately. In winter it is so dry that the grass catches fire so easily; add a strong wind and it is a recipe for disaster. Quite a large part of the Lion Park was burned, luckily this happened before all the wind started or the animals would have been trapped. The fire was stopped as it could not cross the dirt road; in high winds that is no obstacle at all. You can see the new grass is growing through already and it must be very sweet and tender; those greedy buck never lifted their heads once the whole time we watched them.
This zebra was standing right next to the road!
Wait! I need a photo taken with it...
Oh, they are so far away I can hardly see them...looks like sable antelope and zebra...
And the wildebeest are so far away you can barely see them either.
I suppose the lions will be even harder to see...
Talking of which! There are strict rules: windows are NOT allowed to be opened. You have to stay IN your car at all times. Do not feed the TOYS to the lions. Okay, I made the last one up...but don't okay?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! THAT is the king of the beasts? No, no,no! That is a giant pussycat!
And um....HE would be the king of the beasts...thank goodness he is sound asleep...shhhh! Don't wake him up...
Okay, now we sat back and watched an African soap opera unfold:
That is it! I have had enough! I am going to find another pride of lions to live with - you all take me for granted!
Yes, especially you Lioninna! I could get my claws out and have a real cat fight but I just couldn't be BOTHERED!
What are you lot looking at?
I am NEVER going back. NEVER! They can beg, they can plead, it is too LATE!
We huddled together hoping she would not spot us... and I slithered off the dashboard and took NormaNikkers with me...oops!
Just then there was a little whimper...then a wail MOM! Where are you going? Come BACK...
That of course was too much for her... her maternal instincts kicked in and she turned back. I stayed on the dash but so flat and heavily camouflaged that I may as well have stayed on the seat!
Oh dear... I sense trouble... look who just got up to see what was going on.
Just what do you think you are doing!? How dare you leave my pride without my permission? I am the KING!!!!
Ummm...I'll never do it again...now just let me get to my baby
Mom? Where did you go? Can I go too? Pleeeeeease? Can I have rollerblades and a skateboard? Huh? Can I? Mom! I'm talking to you...
Then we drove on to the next camp. We were playing a game to see who could spot the lions first. NormaNikkers nearly wet herself with excitement when she spotted them.
Boring, they are asleep...
We started driving by.... she was quite sound asleep...Oh hey! These are WHITE lions!
Oops, our squeals woke him up....
Time to move on I think.... may I have some jellybeans?
We stopped at the picnic area because we were all feeling pretty peckish by now.
We found a table under a tree because it was also very hot.
And then we had a visitor.
She got REAL close...
Shane showed us that she was very gentle.
So I got a little closer to meet her.
Well that's not something you do everyday!
Time for lunch, oh my head is burning I need a hat. Oh thanks Fi! Now, what is there to eat? Boiled eggs, cheese sarmies (sandwiches), fruit, crisps and Swiss roll... where do I start?
This is an African Coral tree. They bloom at this time of the year. The leaves only grow a little later so the red looks quite spectacular against the blue sky. There is one of these trees on every block, such a nice way to end winter...
Well lunch was good! Time to see the other animals in the enclosures. Most of them are hiding because of the heat; mid day is not the right time to look for animals!
But she is cooling down on top of her hutch... she acknowledged our presence with a flick of her tail but she wouldn't turn around. Come on cheetah, smile for the camera!
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We all stayed away from the ostrich!
And we wisely stayed away from feeding the giraffe... the children's arms were covered in slobber eeeeuuuwww!
They had to wash their arms three times to get it off!
Hmm what does this say? Lion cubs... yadda, yadda, yadda entrance yad...what? Surely you are NOT taking us in there!?
Oh! So sweet... so sleepy.... lets leave them that way shall we?
Well that's more excitement than I can handle in one day... time to head home and have a nap!
