What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Tom and I took a mini vacation a couple weeks ago and had a wonderful time. Did you know that a giraffe has a purple tongue that is very long? The reason I know this is because I had an up-close-and-personal encounter with one. We were driving through the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio, when we met her. She was one of three giraffes behind a fence along the road. The fence was short enough for her to reach over. She was the picture of fluid grace as she leaned her head down to the window of the car twice to accept a carrot from me. As she wrapped her tongue around each carrot to take it from me I could feel its rough texture as well as the velvety softness of her lips and nose. It was an incredible experience.

As you drive drive through the park you are greeted by scores of friendly animals. It's fun to leave your windows down for they are as curious about us as we are about them. Plus they're hoping for a handout. It was great fun when they stuck their heads in our car windows in search of pellets and carrots. And the animals weren't shy about begging. I shrieked when a reindeer stuck his head in my window and snatched the cup of pellets I had setting in my lap. I'd been watching Tom feed a carrot to a deer and wasn't paying attention to what was going on on my side of the car. The reindeer calmly grabbed the cup and upended it, pouring the pellets down his throat, on the ground, and all over my lap.

The deer were the most common of the animals but we also made the acquaintance of llamas, alpacas, reindeer, bison, oxen, wildebeeste, elk, zebras including rare white zebras, giraffes and probably some I've forgotten or didn't know the name of.

The afternoon was delightful and exceded our expectations. We enjoyed being so close to so many beautiful wild animals. I hope we can return someday.