Holiday - 2006/10/26

• What an absolutely awesome day!



• We had some shopping that needed doing this morning and the car was pretty dirty & dusty, so while Tae went shopping the boys took the car to a car wash. Stephen & Mike had a great time washing the car – even Tonky got a wash. At one point Stephen was holding the hose when Mike started the high pressure rinse. Stephen was laughing while trying to tell Mike that he was being pushed backwards almost onto his bottom.
• We checked out of the park & headed straight to the zoo. We got there around 10am and first off we drove around the 6km circuit. We stopped a couple of times for the Rhino feeding and the Hippo feeding.



• Next we went to the Elephant enclosure. Stephen had told us the previous day that “there aren’t any elephants at the zoo, they’ve gone to Dubbo”. When we told him we were at Dubbo, he got a very puzzled expression and was quiet for some time while he thought that through! We saw three African elephants, and they are very large. I think we’d forgotten how big elephants are.
• We finished driving around the circuit and stopped at the café for some milkshakes and muffins.
• We then hired bikes so we could ride around the zoo at a more leisurely pace. Stephen got a carriage that was attached to Mike’s bike. It was quite a hot day so we had lots of drinks breaks.
• We visited the elephants again, but this time it was feeding time with a zoo keeper talk, which was great. The elephants are able to be controlled by the keepers – they’re very intelligent animals and can be trained to a greater level than other animals, e.g. horses. There are three African elephants ranging from 5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes, and they eat approximately 300kg of food per day.
• Next, we visited the two Asian elephants who were previously at Taronga zoo. They have smaller ears, only the males have tusks, and they don’t have wrinkles. The African elephants are wrinkled so when they cover themselves in damp mud the mud fills the wrinkles and the outer layer dries leaving a cool moist layer below.



• We stopped for a brief look at a lounging Cheetah – the fastest land animal with a top speed that would allow them to sit comfortably in the right lane of a NSW expressway.
• We climbed up to the top of the African viewing tower and had a great view of the elephants and the giraffes.
• Next, we stopped to admire the size of the White Rhino’s which grow to 1.8m tall compared to 1.5m of the Black Rhino’s. Did you know that the White Rhino’s aren’t white! They are named because of their wide lower lip, and the word for wide in Africaans is “weit”, pronounced “white”.
• We stopped to look at the sleeping Tiger and then saw some sleeping Lions, but our time there coincided with a large group of disabled kids who don’t have any of the inhibitions of other kids their own age, so they were whooping and hollering trying to get the Lions to wake up. Well, it worked! First, the Lions sat up, and then the male lion actually got up and walked past the female towards the back of the enclosure. I actually think he just wanted to get away from the noisy kids, but they were ecstatic and gave him three cheers.
• We saw many other animals, wild horses, dingo’s, kangaroos, deer, camels, etc… Finally, just before 2pm we made it back to the start and we all enjoyed a well earned ice cream.
• We then checked into our zoofari lodge, and the first thing we did was take a dip in the saltwater pool to cool down.
• At 3:40pm it was time to begin our first behind the scenes zoo tour. There were two minibuses of approximately 12 people, plus a taxi that carried a person in a wheelchair, and that person was none other than the Olympic Champion Louise Savage!
• Our first stop on the afternoon tour was the elephants night time sleeping quarters. This was such a fantastic way to start – we stood behind a fence with the enormous elephants no more than 2m from us, while the zookeeper told us about the elephants and asked “Yum Yum”, the matriarch to lift each foot in turn and put them on the fence so each foot could be inspected and cleaned. This included the back feet. They respond to a huge variety of spoken commands, and are generally extremely responsive. Mind you they are very well rewarded with treats! The next largest elephant, “Cuddles”, then showed us her trick which is keeping her massive mouth open while treats are thrown straight in. Cuddles has a longer left tusk than right task because elephants are right or left tusked much like humans are right or left handed, so she wears the right tusk down as fast as it can grow.



• We then visited the Sumatran Tiger who had been kept waiting for his dinner. When we arrived he was pacing along the other side of the moat. He then jumped into the water and swam backwards and forwards until his keeper threw his dinner to him. His keeper informed us that the only way to control Tigers is through food and it would not be safe for him to be in the enclosure with the Tiger at any time – he would be mauled.



• We also visited the Wild Dogs of Africa at their feeding time. We had visited the Wild Dogs earlier in the day and they weren’t moving at all. Feeding time was a completely different story. Firstly, they made a high pitched squealing noise at the mere prospect of food, which rose in volume tenfold when food was thrown to them. I caught on camera the first chicken (not live) being thrown to them. Five separate dogs grabbed hold and all pulled in different directions until the chicken tore apart, which only took a few seconds. They were able to gobble down their portions in a matter of moments. Their teeth are very strong. We had seen these dogs on a BBC documentary which highlighted how they can communicate and work as a very effective hunting pack. Well, in this environment teamwork was not the priority!
• Our last stop of the afternoon was to visit the white handed (and faced) gibbon and view his tricks. He was a massive showoff and loved swinging from branch to branch and then hanging calmly from one hand while watching us to make sure we were watching him.
• Then it was back to the lodge, time for a quick freshen up and another swim for Stephen, and then it was dinner time. We had pre-ordered when we had checked-in, so that saved time. Stephen had fish fillets with chips and vegetables. Mike had Pumpkin soap, followed by Atlantic Salmon. Taemar also had the Atlantic Salmon for main, and she had a goat’s cheese tart for her entrée. Mike & Taemar both had sticky date pudding for desert, while Stephen almost ate all of his “Frog on a Pond”, which was ice cream, green jelly, and a large chocolate frog!
• After dinner it was time for the night tour. Our tour guide, Greg, was excellent. Twice he stopped, jumped out of the bus and came back with gecko’s to show us and touch. The first was a fat tailed gecko and the second was a velvet gecko.
• Our first stop on the night tour was the lions. Greg took us within a couple of metres of the female and the male lion. The male was pretty laid back but the two females were very active. In an attempt to get the male on his feet, Greg turned out all the torches and lay down on his back beside the fence. After about three seconds I heard the sound of paws hitting the ground beside Greg’s head. I had assumed it was the male, but when the torches came on a female lion had absolutely silently and with incredible speed come from the back of the enclosure and had her head inches from Greg’s. She had seen him in a vulnerable position and thought there was a chance of quick kill. The female left but stopped for a wee. This was what finally got the male lion on his feet. He went and sniffed the wee quite extensively before making a face like it was the most offensive thing he’d ever smelt.
• We next visited the maned wolf, a native of South America, and looks like a fox on stilts. We had also seen the maned wolf earlier in the day, but she was out to is when we saw her. She, and her three grown up cubs were very active at night, and Greg fed her baby chicks (not live) as treats.
• We then got to visit a wombat who was more awake than any wombat we’d ever seen before. Although by this point, about 8:15 at night, Stephen was more asleep than any Wombat that has ever slept. It had been a really big day, and he’d had no naps at all during the day. He was great all day, even during the meal at the restaurant. Greg told us lots of interesting facts about Wombats, like they very hard plate of bone that makes up their rear backs so they can leave that poking out the whole and it acts as a front door. Also, they can flatten themselves so if an animal pokes it’s head in the burrow the Wombat can flatten itself and then stand up and crush the would-be predator’s skull between the Wombat’s back and the burrow ceiling. Also, their pouches are rear facing so they don’t get full of dirt when they’re digging. He also told us a tale about the previous wombat who discovered that she couldn’t dig out because of the cement underneath the dirt, but if she dug the dirt from the middle towards the fence she could make stairs that she could use to escape. They had to bring her back on the zoofari bus a couple of times, until an ample breasted women went to pat her and “Molly” grabbed onto the lady’s breasts.
• Our last visit was to “Happy” the Hippo. He was born on Christmas Day 21 years ago so was given the name Happy. Unfortunately he’s the grumpiest Hippo at the zoo and you’re not safe in the same enclosure as him. Hippo’s kill more people in Africa than any other animal. They are extremely territorial, then can swim and run at speeds up to 35km per hour. They can stay under water for up to 30 minutes at a time and they can open their mouths to a 180 degree angle, and the have massive teeth. Basically, they are not to be messed with at all.



• Finally, it’s time for sleep, and from our accommodation – solid walls for the bathroom, and the remainder is a luxurious tent about the size of a large hotel room – we can hear lots of fantastic sounds. It sounded like a Lion roar earlier, and you feel like you’re in the jungle. Just a simply wonderful experience.