Animal Interaction

      Since moving to Africa 2 months ago we have tried to go on several outings to places with animal interactions.  Because here in Africa, if you can't interact and touch the animals it does not feel worth the visit.  In America you are just happy to actually see the animal in the cage as opposed to it sleeping or hiding somewhere.  So many of the animal places have options where you can pet, take a picture with, or feed an animal.  Interacting with them is my favorite part and I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to do this every weekend.

      One of the first places we visited was Bester Birds and Animal Zoo Park  http://www.besterbirdsanimals.co.za/.  For only $7 each, Adalyn, myself and 2 friends enjoyed a long morning exploring.  They had a large variety of birds, but in true African hodge podge style, they threw in anything else they could get.  Panthers, cheetahs, turtles, monkeys, snakes, and of course farm animals.

 We enjoyed going from cage to cage, all while workers went in and out not afraid an animal would try a run for it.  Then before our picnic lunch Adalyn got to feed the bunnies and guinea pigs.

 No matter the size of the animal, Adalyn tries to pick them up so she can love them.....to death.  I find myself repeating, "Adalyn don't squeeze them so tightly".  It was a good first outing and so next up was more of a safari "like" experience.

      Having spent 2 weeks in January on a safari in Tanzania, I have pretty high expectations of what a safari should entail.  So when a place right across the road from us said they have "game drives", I thought we should at least see what it included.  The Farm Inn is a rustic, African style lodge that hosts several functions, has a nice buffet and of course a game drive. http://www.farminn.co.za/  The drivers were very knowledgeable, and answered every question we could come up with.  We were able to see lions, tigers, giraffes, impalas, hyenas, and cheetahs.  Most of the animals were still behind fences so not the same as a safari in the wild.

Wildebeest

 For only $22 per adult, children under 3 are free, which included a nice buffet lunch, we could also visit their small petting zoo for Adalyn to squeeze more bunnies.

We were able to see them feed the lions and tigers, a real animal treat to see.  Some of the lions were wild and others had grown up in captivity which made for interesting behavior differences.  The wild lions would roar and run at the cages of tigers as they were right next to each other.  The tigers would act afraid as they had only lived in captivity and seemed to lack the fighting instinct.  A bounce house and playground were a plus but I mostly enjoyed one particular caged tiger who would chase you.  If you ran laps around his cage, he would run along on the perimeter after you.  And the race was on but the tiger always won.
      Next up we tried out Mystic Monkeys and Feathers Wildlife Park, http://mysticmonkeys.co.za/.  For $10 per adult, children under 3 are free, we received a guided tour and talk about the animals.  I had no idea there were so many different types of monkeys, apes, baboons, and this place seemed to have them all.

And of course they had lots of birds, but no place seems to be complete without a few lions, leopards and tigers mixed in the bunch.  Interestingly they had a lion and a Bengal tiger that had grown up together in captivity so they did not know to hate each other and would lay together as friends.

 After viewing all the animals we had a picnic lunch and Adalyn enjoyed feeding the quite large chickens.

 Before leaving we thought we might as well take advantage of the $10 option to play with their 6 month old tigers.  We had watched a few kids go into it's cage and the tiger was a little too frisky so we just sent in Mark to test it out.  I pretty much volunteer him for about anything, he is such a good sport.

 With bottle in hand, he made an instant friend minus a few scratches on Mark's arm as cats do love to play.  Now if you want to take an animal home, that is an option as well.  For only $1,200 you can get a lion cub, and for $900 you can get a tiger cub, but if you want a baby monkey that will cost you about $2,500.  I don't know who is allowed to purchase the animals and what kind of laws there are about having them but the low cost was a huge surprise to me.  I never would have thought it was cheaper to get a tiger than a monkey.

      This past weekend we ventured to the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve,  http://www.rhinolion.co.za/home    The hour drive was well worth it as the interaction was by far the best we have experienced.  First up is your own self driven game drive, luckily their map was quite helpful, and most of the animals were right by the road.

Ostrich and Gemsbok

After driving through half the park we ventured into the animals interaction area.  At the front entrance were two very friendly giraffes who we were able to pet.

 Then a little further down was an area for about 8 cheetahs.  

These 3 were just sunning themselves, but when social they would come up right next to the fence.  I did get concerned one time when Adalyn was running down a path next to their fence and one particular cheetah seemed a little too interested in following her.  Even though he was behind an electric fence, the fact that he is still a wild animal made me pick her up and whisk her off.  I took the following picture right before she started to run not realizing what he was looking at.  Scary how intently he is watching her.

 We were able to view several jaguars, leopards, tigers, and lions.

Leopard

Panthers

 The option to interact with animals was abundant here.  For only $3 per person (this is only on top of the $13 per adult (children were again free under 3) to enter the nature reserve) you could play with either the cheetah, white lions, brown lions, or the serval.  I figured with that price why not play with them all.  I went into see the cheetah first and was a little scared as I have not have quite this close of an encounter before.  The 11 year old female was laying down and sat right up when I walked over to her.

       I had to pet it from the side or when it was laying down, from the back.  I was told to pet it from the head to the shoulders and sometimes it does not like it's ears petted.  It purred quite loudly like a cat, it's coat was not as soft as expected, more of a short, harsh texture but the mannerisms of a cat were very much present.  I kept thinking to myself, this is unbelievable I need to be present in the moment and not worry about Mark getting a good shot on the camera.  When I first went in Mark stood outside the cage with Adalyn which of course made her cry thinking I was leaving.  As soon as she started to cry a worker came over to help entertain her and only after I was done with the cheetah did she tell me that Adalyn's crying would draw attention from the other animals and they really don't want that.
      Next we went in as a family to see the 4 month old white lion cubs.  There were four in the cage and Adalyn thought they were just cute enough to try and pick up.

She would also grab their tails but they could escape pretty quickly.  There were not as fond of just lying around being pet so you had to chase them down.  Soft as a kitten, no purring (as I am told lions don't purr only moan, which we heard as well), and very friendly.  I would love to have spent the day with them.

      Mark ventured into the brown lions cage next which contained 4 cubs that were 7 months old.  Amazing the difference 3 months can make in size.  These lions were ready for a nap, so they were all sunning themselves which made for great still photos.

 They loved to be pet on the head and their paws were huge.  The lions would let you almost lay down with them and even though I would have loved to cuddle, I had to remind myself one again they are still wild animals no matter how cute they appear.  Once Mark had his visit, I decided that since we were there, and it's only $3 I better not turn down the chance.

One of the most amazing experiences I have had while living here.

After we finished driving through the rest of the nature reserve we went for lunch at a rooftop cafe near the main entrance.  While we enjoyed a nice lunch we could also feed 2 giraffes for free.  Adalyn enjoyed this until they tried to eat her hand, no worries she was not bit, but the experience was a little too different for her to be comfortable with yet.  Much like how a horse eats out of your hand, the giraffes feed the same way.  They were not as keen on you petting them, but then again who wants to be touched as they are eating.
Overall, it was an amazing day.  I will never forget the first time I was able to cuddle with a lion or pet a cheetah and I have a feeling it won't be my last animal interaction.