Drive Through Safari

Remember our little summer camp my cousin planned for the kids? Well, the last activity planned was going to a drive thru safari on our way home. To be honest, when we pulled in, I thought it was going to be a waste of money. I thought we might see a few exotic, but not unusual animals at a distance, and since it was the heat of the day in Texas, the animals would be lazing under the trees.

Instead, this was our experience:

Yes, that's a zebra's nose in our car. I had no idea that we were going to feed the animals, although the animals were quite aware of the routine. As soon as you pull in, your car is surrounded with an interesting variety of farm and exotic animals, including zebras, buffalo, rams, ostriches, llamas, ponies, cattle, emu, camels...the list goes on.

Some of the animals unnerved us, like the large birds and the Ankole-Watusi cattle. When they approached
the vehicle, we'd quickly throw some food and roll up the windows. But if you weren't paying attention because you had two zebras sticking their noses in your car on one side, you might turn and find an emu  staring you in the face.

This guy almost gave Audrie a kiss/heart attack.

In addition to the drive-through part, they also had quite a collection of caged animals, and those you could pet. We saw monkeys, Wallabies, hedgehogs, some newborn camels, a baby zebra, and Wilbur:

I grew up on a ranch. I was surrounded by animals all of my childhood, so being around animals isn't really a big deal to me. But I don't know if it was the excitement of seeing exotic animals, or the adrenaline rush from the up close encounters with scary animals, or that cute little piglet that I almost pignapped, but I had so much fun here. The kids had a blast. It was well worth the money.

If you're ever near Franklin, Texas, I'd recommend a trip to their drive thru safari.

xo

nessa dee