Out of Africa

The week after Kaleb's birthday we dropped Sasha off at the in-laws and took Kaleb on a little road trip.  He handled it very well, but got a little bored about half-way.  Since dad was driving I got the opportunity to sit in the back seat and play lions and tigers and dinosaurs with him for the rest of the two-hour drive. 

 Once we arrived in Out of Africa, we were rushed into the Safari bus where we got to drive through a make-shift Serengeti.  The driver (one of the park keepers) gave us lots of details about each of the animals. 

 We also got a few pieces of carrot to give us the chance to feed some of the animals.  We gave Kaleb all of ours, so he got to feed the giraffe...

 And the camel (he's behind a fence because he and the giraffe apparently do not get along).

 We also saw a bunch of other plains animals.  My favorite part was hearing Kaleb's voice holler each animals name so that the whole bus could hear. "Look, Mommy, ZEBRAS!!!"  It was fun.

 After a quick (but expensive) bite to eat, we got to walk around and see some of the animals.  Here are some grizzly bear cubs...

 And of course the tigers.  Out of Africa houses some twenty-something big cats throughout the park, most of which are tigers.  Kinda ironic considering there are no tigers in Africa.  It was really cool to get so close while they were just walking around. 

 After lunch was the main attraction:  Tiger Splash.  Trainers encourage the tigers to chase them around a pool.  Since it was pretty warm that day, the tigers were slow to get moving, but Kaleb got a great seat!!

 A few times, the tigers showed us some pretty impressive moves.  Thankfully, I caught one on camera.

Kaleb also enjoyed using Daddy's binoculars after getting splashed so much!

 After Tiger Splash, they offer the audience the chance to feed a tiger (with 3-foot tongs and for a small fee), so that was a cool experience.  Our tiger was getting kinda full by the time we got to her, but she was still an impressive sight!

 The day we went they presented a large snake show, where we got to learn about and pet a boa constrictor.  Kaleb was pretty hesitant at first, but once he saw the other kids and daddy get involved, he couldn't help but touch it.

 On the drive home, Kaleb was SOOO tired, but so excited that he never took a nap.  Near the end of the trip he was pretty slap happy, so we all had the giggles once we picked up a very happy-to-see-us Sasha.