Lion Park

When my parents told me about the Lion Park I was so very excited to go with the family. Up close and personal with lions? It sounded like the quintessential African experience!

Then I read this sign upon entering:

And this one:

 I loved how the bathrooms were marked. Liesel and Ireland are pointing to the Lionesses side we used.

Part of the Lion Park experience is the opportunity to pet baby lions. However, right next to their part of the enclosure were the lionesses. They looked at us like they didn't at all appreciate our touching their babies. After getting their stony glares, there was yet another sign:

We decided to completely ignore that warning and let Brigitta run off and make friends with the lion cubs by herself: 

Just kidding! That picture is from right outside the gift shop with a fake lion. We (of course) complied 100% with the rules and one of us had the babies in hand at all times. Brigitta's experience with the cubs was heavily supervised:

As was Sydney's. Man, even looking at this picture makes me nervous all over again. It was a hot day and the cubs had already been touched by tons of school children so they were rather annoyed. They were snapping a bit too. We were told not to touch them on their heads or to grab their tails but to either stroke their paws or their backs. As I touched them I just couldn't get over the fact I was petting a lion. A LION!!!

Next we moved over to the teenagers. If I was nervous with the cubs, I was doubly nervous with these bigger cats. I hung back with Sydney because they kept eyeing her in a way that made my protective mama instincts go through the roof. 

Ireland and Liesel gently patted their paws:

We then moved on to an area where we could feed giraffes. For reasons yet to be understood, Brigitta decided to sample some of the feed instead of throwing it out to the animals like her sisters. Wait for it....

... and ultimately decided it wasn't for her. I'll have to remember this if she develops some strange digestive issue in the future. 

Unfortunately, this is as close as the giraffes wanted to be at the moment:

I did not realize there are some zebras with stripes that are more of a deep chocolate than straight up black and white. I've decided I like the brownish ones even better. 

The feed didn't go to waste (aside from the chunk Brigitta kyped):

The girls were very popular with the ostriches:

In case you forgot:

My mind was still reeling from what we'd just experienced-- did I mention we petted a LION?!?!? But the girls swiftly shifted their attention to the play land at Lion Park, complete with bounce house:

Brigitta was a natural on top of this elephant:

Around this time, a group of schoolchildren arrived and they jumped right in playing with the girls like they'd all been best friends for a lifetime:

Grandma put in the equivalent of $.25 to get this little carousel moving and wow, I have never seen such a pile on! Apparently the teacher noticed and I'm guessing she ordered the kids to get off. Aside from the one rebel who refused to budge, Liesel looks like she isn't enjoying the ride quite as much as when it was full to overflowing with little kids:

Our time at the Lion Park ended with a drive into the different enclosures where the big cats live. I wish I'd caught a picture of THAT sign! No soft top vehicles, never exit the car, windows must remain rolled up at all times, etc. etc. The guards who let us in were enclosed in a gate within a gate. It was so crazy to see these incredible creatures right outside my window... like we'd magically stepped into the pages of National Geographic. 

During the drive, Brigitta took her cues from the lions and slept off the heat of the day:

Mom bought the girls these adorable books.