Out of Africa

[Warning: Lots of pictures!]

Instead of waking up early and getting trampled on to find a good deal (aka- Black Friday) we thought we'd visit Africa.... or at least the animals taken "out of Africa" to this amazing wild animal park in Camp Verde, Arizona. It was quite a drive to get there but we enjoyed our first bouts of Christmas music and the scenic desert landscape along the way. The high that day was only 54* and partly cloudy, so being the Arizonans that we are, we bundled up the kiddos and set out.

We began our adventure with a Serengeti Safari ride in a converted school bus without window or a door. Each person was given a carrot to feed a giraffe:

Or a camel:

We also encountered a rhinoceros...

The Gemsbox (Oryx Gazella) (watch out, they can kill lions with those horns)...

......ostriches (they can kick you over, stand on you and kill you with their thumb and they can run 45 mph for over 30 minutest straight, so you can't outrun them)...

...zebras (but don't feed them, they can bite your fingers off!...

... lions...

... and a African Sable Antelope.

Then we attended the Giant snake show:

Where they actually let you pet and hold these cute lovable creatures. Corbin was game:

Jeff, on the other hand, hates snakes and ventured off by himself. He ran into this:

A tiger.

When we met up again we turned the corner and saw this: a hyena

During lunch we enjoyed leftover turkey sandwiches and oranges as we saved seats at the Tiger Splash arena for the 1:15 show. It was a cold day when the sun was behind the clouds:

The Tiger Splash show features tigers literally playing in that heated pool. They love it and it's amazing. The trainers don't "train" these wild animals, they merely solicit their natural play instinct (just like real cats). The co-founders of Out of Africa wrote a book about this type of play based on concous rational thought (meaning they make a choice not to kill the trainers during play but they DO rip apart the toys with their claws and teeth.) The book is called RETURN TO EDEN. Very interesting concepts.

After the show, it was time to head home. On our walk down the mountain we saw the cougar (Go Cougs!)...

the 3-legged (special needs) leopard, of course...

the lion...

... and the white wolf.

Corbin and I ended the day with a camel-back ride on John Henry. Corbin was a little unsure at first, but as soon as we got trotting, he was giggling in delight.

I think after a day like this, who wouldn't? After all the sights and sounds, we felt like we'd visited Africa.