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Published: October 3rd 2009
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The next morning we decided we needed to get up early and start on our adventures since we had been doing nothing but relaxing, pool plunging and eating!!! We scheduled a friend of Sarah's parents, Charlie, to come and drive us to Ubud (about an hour drive) to the Bali Safari!! The rain had finally arrived in Bali thanks to this crazy weather pattern and it poured all day long. This however did not stop us! It was myself, Al, Blair and Louise two of Al's friends from Perth. Blair had only had a couple hours of sleep but was fabulous in keeping up with the rest of us at the Safari. We had no idea what to expect either but we were very very pleasantly surprised!
Camera gear in hand we ventured out into the sheets of rain. As soon as we arrived we armed ourselves with huge Bali safari umbrellas and always kept our little electronics far away from the ruining wetness. We assumed that it wouldn't be too busy since it was major down pouring and we were right! So we had no problem seeing all that we wanted. This place was enormous! We started with the
Feeding of the Lion Cub
we got to pat this little guy, he wasn't as soft as I thought he would be but very cute with BIG paws! Leopard who was so close and in a tree sleeping. It was so much closer than what I was able to see in Africa so I was thankful, but it was very difficult to take pictures all while trying to hold the umbrella. Keep in mind with every photo we took at the Safari...most of them were taken while doing an acrobatic act, camera strategically placed in one hand, umbrella under the armpit then the other hand wrapped around to take the photo! whew!!!!!!!
The white Tigers were gorgeous! There was a gazebo in the middle of the tiger pen that one of the tigers was laying on. You were able to go underground and stand in the middle of the pen and get a very very close look at the tigers in their habitat. At one point Blair and I were watching from the outside of the pit and Al and Louise had gone underground....one of the tigers starting stalking the other who was on the gazebo, then in a big fit of fury the tiger pounced on the other and the sound resonated through us...all I could think of was how loud it must have been for
Lunch at Tsavo Lions Restaurant
We ate lunch all while watching the lions.... Al and Louise! Thankfully, Al has a video of this because.....again I have lost all my photos from that day 😞 I did have a great one of the fight.....hopefully there will be some way to get these photos back, for some strange reason I have been having very bad luck with my electronics! Mercury has definitely been in retrograde!
We left the tigers to go and pat the little Lion cub, something Al has been dreaming about. He had such a wonderful time with the little lion cub who ended roaring a baby roar for us! Again...no pictures argghhhh, we do however have some video footage though!
Lunch was at the Lion den...literally! It was odd for me but I couldn't help but want to sit right next to the windows and stare at the lions. This restaurant was directly next to the lion area. There was one male with about 6 females, they were roaring and walking around all while we sat in this large restaurant. I just couldn't help thinking that some day aliens are going to do this to us....put us in a glass cage and stare, point and take pictures...ok ok sorry, but
Lion Roar
He would roar and the females would join in. I couldn't help it. There was even a male lion who had to be separated from the other pack because there can only be one male...well he was a surprise "treat" for you in the bathroom. You go and wash your hands and he was right there staring at you....it was a bit heart breaking for me...but what do you do?? It's such an opportunity to see these amazing animals, but what are we doing to them? I had a big mental challenge in my mind about this all day.
There is much controversy out there regarding Bali Zoo and other zoo's as well. Many feel there is a lot of drugging of the animals going on so the tourists can pay to ogle and coo over and get to pat something that otherwise you would never experience. Zoo's to me are about education, learning about a species that is in the wild and most importantly is seen in the most natural surroundings as possible. For most times, I have a hard time in a zoo, I was however on the fence about Bali Zoo. I loved the conservation program they have for the endangered Sumatran Tiger, but with
the White Tiger there was only a sign stating the White Tiger was a mutation and there was some small signage of the conservation but that was all. There was not much signage either for any of the animals. We would look at some, ponder for a bit and wonder what exactly the animal was!
However we did get see elephants, lots of exotic birds, and on safari we saw a single White Rhino, Barbirusa, Sumatran Elephants, Orangutans, Hippos, Cheetah, Ankole, Lechwe, False Gharial, Javan Leopard, Grevy and Chapman Zebra, Scimitar Horned Oryx, Barbary Sheep, Anoa, Banteng, Sumatran Tiger, Bali Mynah and Estuarine Crocs! So all in all, it was an amazing experience to have had. I still really want to go back and Safari in Africa, nothing can possibly compare to that amazing experience!!!!
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Rebecca
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tigers!
Those white tigers are so beautiful! And those wedding pictures were awesome. Your little tiger is doing fine, he likes to sleep on Mike and meow for me to get him food in the morning and he is terrified of our stove fan! Have fun guys!