On July 25th & 26th, Sahaan, the kids and myself went on our first adventure to Wild Life Safari. We have been trying to do things different each year and last summer was time spent at the beach. This year it is in Southern and Central Oregon.
We stayed in Roseburg about 10 miles North of Winston, at the Holiday Inn. This was the view from our window. What a great river right? We were able to watch a beaver working on a dam, and many families of ducks and ducklings swimming. Also lots of fish jumping.
After dinner all sat out on the grass and just enjoyed the nice weather and the river. When it was time for dinner, Kolbie had a bit of a melt down being away from home, and we sat out on the balcony and looked at the stars and the "city" lights. I say "city" because if you blink you would miss it.
Kolbie and I on the balcony!
Kolbie's camera experience. She loved taking pictures and actually got a few good ones of Sahaan and I, but most were of her fingers, or REALLY up close pics of our feet, faces, or the furniture in the room.
On Sunday we just took our time and drove down about mid morning. We had a very important stop at Rice Hill to get some Umpqua ice cream. The kids had a great time and did really well with the long drive. When we finally got there we rested some and then went swimming and watched a movie.
The next day was the safari. When you first enter, you start the safari. You can go around 2 times in one day if you like (about 1.5 hours each time). So we did, once when we got there and once when we left. We also visited the village.
Here is a male osterich. All I could think of was how big the osterich egg was that grandma Pilgrim had in her attic all those years.
Here is a lady lion. Some of the animals you are right up on, and some your not. But you are with in just feet of the fence, so that was cool.
Here's the lil' man lion taking a nap.
Some of the views of the 600 acre safari were just gorgeous.
Yah, so don't expect me to name every little animal here. I have the book from the safari, but for now, just go with me on this.
Here are the girafe's having a little snack. They fill these huts with hay or food for the animals to get food when they want. All the animals have been injured OR come from zoo's. So because they could not be released back into the wild, they are trying to make this environment as close as to the wild as they can have it. The animals rome and do what they please, unless it is going to hurt them or some one else.
Here's some cattle that were grazing. For a minute I thought I was in Texas...they seemed a little out of place.
This is a bald eagle that stays out on this island in the lake. They feed and check on it by taking a little boat out to the middle. This eagle's wing was injured so it could not fly.
These big boys/girls were quite impressive. They were huge! Just walking around by the cars, with a little wire fence between us. They were swimming and wrestling a lot.
Here are some Bison I think??? LOL So anyway. They were all grazing in the woods and then decided to cross the street and block all traffic to go to the other side. It is known that they like to walk with the cars on the street, but a couple get pretty stubborn and don't move. Thank God for 4 x 4 and off road trucks.
Here were some Elk grazing as well. They were beautiful to look at. Their horns were HUGE! We have a video of them, and Kai said " If uncle Ray were here, he could just bring his gun and shoot one. He doesn't have to go hunting, just come here." Yah too bad that's not how it works.
And more of our girafe's and zebra.
Here is the African Elephants. The one only has one tusk because when he was younger, he was playing with a huge log and broke it off. The veterinarian thought it would be better for him to have it removed.
Emperor KuzKo. LOL Here are the llama's. If you don't know who Emperor KuzKo is, it is a movie: The Emporer's New Groove.
Here is the Yak!
They are ugly. Their fur was coming off and they were shedding. These too walked really close to the truck.
This is a friend of the osterich.
The tigers were quite impressive. They were gorgeous! The kids wanted to know if we could have one. LOL Yah that will fit right in their with the dogs.
Here is the cheetah. The trainer was talking to us about the cheetah and how its mom had only the one cub, and then wouldn't take care of it. They fed it from the time it was a baby and they got it a great companion. A huge dog. It is a special type that helps to herd cheetahs in Africa.
Here she is just chillin' in the shade and her friendly playmate around the corner napping.
The flamigos were so pretty in pink. Pretty big too, for those scraggly legs.
We also took and adventure and rode on the camels. They camels can hold up to 300 lbs, and had we thought it out a little better, we all could've taken one ride each except Kolbie, but we didn't. Sahaan and Kai rode first and the girls rode second.
They are very tall, and quite uncomfortable to ride on, but a fun experience. Instead of getting on them on the ground, they had a platform built to the height of the camels back and you just had to climb on. Then they had the "handles" (the big red thing) to hold on to.
They made Sahaan look so small. You would think they were like a horse, but they are so much bigger.
Here's the girls getting ready to go.
And we're back.
We then fed the ducks, some big bird with a knot on its head and the Koi fish. These fish were huge. Not like the little koi in mom and dads pond. They could've been 15 lbs. No joke.
On the way up to the cafe and restaraunt, we saw this crossing the trail. Yup, a snake, it totally gave me the heebee geebees. The kids of course were very excited to see it and Kai wanted to pick it up.
We surpassed the snake and ate lunch instead. We then went on another adventure to feed the giraffe's. It was AMAZING!
As we pulled up in the truck, out came the giraffe and walked right up to us. He is 17 ft. tall and has absolutely gorgeous coloring when they get up to you closer.
His head is HUGE! Which is an understatement. And his eyelashes were SO long.
We fed him romaine lettuce and some fruit. The keeper said it is like a treat for them.
The kids were a little wigged out by the tongue. It is super long, can be up to 24-30 inches, and it is blueish grey. Not to mention VERY slimy and sticky.
We got to stay out there and feed them for about 20 minutes. It was alot of fun.
The safari also had a petting zoo for kids to feed the animals. They fed goats and sheep and got to see a turtle, mini horse, donkey and a black tailed deer.
I didn't get to feed the ducks much the time before so we went back to the Koi fish and the ducks and fed them a little bit more.
Kolbie loved feeding them and was not scared of them at all. Even after one of the wierd ducks bit Kai and I trying to get the food.
Of course every parent makes their kids pose for some embarrasing but cute picture.
They had to though, it was their and we were waiting for the alligator feed.
Once the alligator feed started, one trainer talked about the alligator and one trainer fed the alligator. This one eats only horse meat, as do most of the animals at the safari. This alligator was a pet at first, but when he got to big, his owner contacted the safari and donated all the money and cost to build the alligator a home there.
Here is the lil' man lion awake chillin right up front by the fence.
Here are the friendly brown bears playing in the water. They were fun to watch and so big.
Here is the two hump camel, and as the book says, "a one hump camel makes a one hump poop and a two hump camel makes a two hump poop. Just kidding. "
This little cheetah found her self in Lovers Lane. Not to be mistaken for Lois Lane. The safari is the top breeding grounds for cheetahs in the country and the 4th in the world.
So to say the least we had a great time and were exhausted afterward. We spent around 6 1/2 hours there and when we left, we weren't even 20 minutes on the rode before all 3 kids were passed out in the back. They slept for 3 of the 4 hours on the way home.
KONKED!
So now we are up to date for the summer. Other stuff has been happening, but I will be waiting about a week or two before my next blog. Soon we will be going to Central Oregon to have fun at South Twin and to spend some time at Sunriver.
They are very tall, and quite uncomfortable to ride on, but a fun experience. Instead of getting on them on the ground, they had a platform built to the height of the camels back and you just had to climb on. Then they had the "handles" (the big red thing) to hold on to.
They made Sahaan look so small. You would think they were like a horse, but they are so much bigger.
Here's the girls getting ready to go.
And we're back.
We then fed the ducks, some big bird with a knot on its head and the Koi fish. These fish were huge. Not like the little koi in mom and dads pond. They could've been 15 lbs. No joke.
On the way up to the cafe and restaraunt, we saw this crossing the trail. Yup, a snake, it totally gave me the heebee geebees. The kids of course were very excited to see it and Kai wanted to pick it up.
We surpassed the snake and ate lunch instead. We then went on another adventure to feed the giraffe's. It was AMAZING!
As we pulled up in the truck, out came the giraffe and walked right up to us. He is 17 ft. tall and has absolutely gorgeous coloring when they get up to you closer.
His head is HUGE! Which is an understatement. And his eyelashes were SO long.
We fed him romaine lettuce and some fruit. The keeper said it is like a treat for them.
The kids were a little wigged out by the tongue. It is super long, can be up to 24-30 inches, and it is blueish grey. Not to mention VERY slimy and sticky.
We got to stay out there and feed them for about 20 minutes. It was alot of fun.
The safari also had a petting zoo for kids to feed the animals. They fed goats and sheep and got to see a turtle, mini horse, donkey and a black tailed deer.
I didn't get to feed the ducks much the time before so we went back to the Koi fish and the ducks and fed them a little bit more.
Kolbie loved feeding them and was not scared of them at all. Even after one of the wierd ducks bit Kai and I trying to get the food.
Of course every parent makes their kids pose for some embarrasing but cute picture.
They had to though, it was their and we were waiting for the alligator feed.
Once the alligator feed started, one trainer talked about the alligator and one trainer fed the alligator. This one eats only horse meat, as do most of the animals at the safari. This alligator was a pet at first, but when he got to big, his owner contacted the safari and donated all the money and cost to build the alligator a home there.
Here is the lil' man lion awake chillin right up front by the fence.
Here are the friendly brown bears playing in the water. They were fun to watch and so big.
Here is the two hump camel, and as the book says, "a one hump camel makes a one hump poop and a two hump camel makes a two hump poop. Just kidding. "
This little cheetah found her self in Lovers Lane. Not to be mistaken for Lois Lane. The safari is the top breeding grounds for cheetahs in the country and the 4th in the world.
So to say the least we had a great time and were exhausted afterward. We spent around 6 1/2 hours there and when we left, we weren't even 20 minutes on the rode before all 3 kids were passed out in the back. They slept for 3 of the 4 hours on the way home.
KONKED!
So now we are up to date for the summer. Other stuff has been happening, but I will be waiting about a week or two before my next blog. Soon we will be going to Central Oregon to have fun at South Twin and to spend some time at Sunriver.
Love you all,
Steph
