Safari Park

Safari Park was awesome! We spent all morning there, and we could have seen even more if we had stayed longer. The kids had a great time seeing all of the animals, especially Johanna. She seemed to like the giraffes the best.

We first took a tram ride through the open air portion of the park. This was probably my favorite part. The animals were all roaming free, and the tram cars were right next to them…giraffes, kangaroos, zebras, camels, etc. 

Then we walked to see some other exhibits, including the tigers, koalas, elephants, baby animals, and most importantly, the pandas! The number of animals they had at this place was incredible. Whereas a zoo in the United States might have one or two koalas, this place had over twenty! They also house 1/3 of the world’s white tigers. The baby orangutans were adorable; I could have watched them all day!

We rented a stroller from our hotel, and Johanna had a good time pushing Jonas around in that. We appreciated not having to carry them all around the park! Jonas enjoyed the carousel more than Johanna, and she enjoyed watching the costumed dancers more than him. They both liked the inflatable toys we bought them. Johanna especially loved her giraffe one, and they kids bopped each other and us all the way out of the park!

Jonas fell asleep on the ride home, and Johanna is now taking a nap with Zack. I’m not sure what we’ll do with the rest of our evening…perhaps attempt a bath with both kids? The good news is that we have had no tears yet from Johanna today. She brought her hair bow over to me this morning to put in her hair, and I indicated to her that she had to get dressed first. She willingly started unzipping her coat! Of course, she immediately put it back on after she was changed, but hey, that’s progress, right?

So it’s been a fun day so far, with lots of good times and giggles. Johanna still definitely prefers Zack to me, but she sometimes lets me hold her or help her with things. She and Jonas are adorable together, though I can definitely already tell that there will be some tension over who is the boss of who when she gets enough English vocabulary!