African Safari Adventure

Today turned out to be such a beautiful day even though to weather people again called for a day of rain. We had none. It was overcast in the am but absolutely warm and sunny all day long. So off we went to the African Safari. We decided not to tell Daria where we were going for the day because we knew she would be so excited to see all the animals live and up close, we decided that surprising her was the way to go and to see her little face was worth the wait. And I could capture it all on film. But no, Mama forgot her camera. Again! That's another story. Someday, I will get better at remembering.

Anyway, on with our day. We decided to invite Grandma and Pop Pop because they live so close to Africa, so we met them along the way and they joined us for the rest of the adventure. Daria was very excited to share the day with them too.

So when we finally arrived and was waiting in line to drive in there were animal pattern flags flying in the wind and Daria saw them and said , "Are we at a Safari?" I had no idea how she knew, but she was right. So there was no turning back now, the excitement was there and now we just needed to get into the park. As we were waiting in line, there was a whole herd of buffalo crossing the road just inside the gate. Daria was so excited to see the buffalo. And once we got in, there they were free, roaming around, and getting close to our car. Boy are they huge animals. I forgot how big they are. Daria's excitement was contagious. She just couldn't sit still. She was screaming and cackling. I was so excited about her excitement. And as we continued to drive through the 4 1/2 mile route, which took over 2 hours, each animal that we saw Daria just squealed with excitement. Towards the end of the 2 hours we came to animals that were very lazy, sleeping, hot and not interested in letting us see them. So next time we decide to do this we need to go earlier in the day. But that was OK by us, we all had a great time.

So the highlight of the day was when we saw the Giraffes. At fist they were far away from the road but then they started towards the cars and there they were standing right above us looking down at us. I felt sooooo small and vulnerable. It was a very interesting feeling. So anyway, the car next to us got the giraffes attention by holding apples out of the windows and the sunroof. This is an absolute no no. The rules all say no windows open, no feeding the animals, No No No!!!! There they were feeding the giraffes. I explained to Daria that they were breaking the rules and that could make the animals sick. Then the people in the car fed the giraffes pretzels and Daria totally understood that couldn't be good for them. She was correct. Even though they weren't doing right, we stayed there and watched those gorgeous animals close up and personal. It was definitely the best part of the day.

After our African Adventure we had a late lunch together and came home. I was a long day, an exciting day, a day that we will remember for a long time.

Blessings,

Shari