With that being thrown out there, the Topsey Zoo Safari Ranch we went to was SOOOOOOO AWESOME!!! I'm so glad I chanced upon it doing a google search of nearby zoos (because I've had a hankerin' to go spy on some animals!) What can I say, I have a huge weakness for animals. I love them all! And this one was spectacular in particular because you could see the animals up close (and when I say up close, I mean UP CLOSE) some would literally stick their heads into the car. Also, you could FEED THEM! A total win win! I would rate the experience a high 8 or low 9, it was a lot lot lot lot of fun. My favorites were the llamas, the ZEBRAS, and the amazingy HUGE and TALL camel!
Josh had even admitted that he wasn't expecting the place to be that great, or that cool or interesting, he thought we would be lucky to see a handful of different types of animals. I was a little more optimistic since I read some reviews on the place, but I was excited nonetheless as it was a chance to get out of the house to do something that didn't involve walking around a store or mall. :) It was about a 30-40 minute drive away, and worth every penny! But what am I still doing yapping away? Pictures of our fun shall abound!
Oh, there was even a petting zoo! But pictures... yes pictures. :)
We were immediately greeted by llamas. Immediately is not an understatement, these animals know that cars and people = FOOD! (1 bag of food = 1 dollar, food being these big alfalfa pellet type thingies) The llamas were sooo precious, and so tall! Funny store: Josh wanted to take the truck, I said, ehhh we probably won't need the truck it should be fine. Case in point: Sometimes men are right! Lol. Some of the animals were sooooo enormous, and had we gone in the mazda, phew that would have been even more intimidating. Not to mention, it would have been so creepy being eye-to-eye with some of the mountain ram goats. Lol. The llamas were so sweet, ate right from your hand. Oh they were just so cute!!!
Yeah! Those things! Lol. I wouldn't want to have been eye to level with them. They were nice though, not aggressive or anything. The guys with the big horns would scare away the littler creatures so they could get all the food pellets, but other than that they were pretty cool looking and fun to watch. Funny story: I head out my hand with a couple pellets and the one with the big horns actually stood on his hind legs and set his hooves on the car! Well, I was a wee bit afraid of feeding that one from the hand, lol plus Josh didn't approve of him walking all over the car... but it was pretty hilarious all the same. :) (don't worry he didn't scratch up the truck, just left a buncha dust!)
I don't remember what this guy was!!! He was like as tall as a horse. But he wasn't a horse. He wasn't a deer... I wish I knew the heck he was, but he stuck his head inside the car and grabbed my food bag!! LOL. He tried to take it but I snatched it back before he could get away with it. I was howling with laughter and screaming because it was just ridiculously funny. What a thief! And what was Cam doing this whole time, you ask?
Yep. Our little princess was sleeping through most of the whole trip! She woke up hmm probably a little over halfway, close to 3/4 of the way through but it was pretty funny. But Josh was like weeeellll this trip isn't for her anyway. *chuckles* I suppose not, I was like a kid in a candyland! I was just beside myself with all the animals to feed and see and (occasionally) pet. They would follow the truck, hang around the roads, basically, they were all over the place and there was barely a dull moment.
Oh my gosh, I loved that deer guy! Or girl? Girl I'm assuming since it didn't have antlers. She was sooo sweet and stuck her mouth/head right on in for some pellets. I fed her by hand and she was so gentle. Her nose reminded me of Desoto LOL.
Then a handsome boy deer approached Josh's side. He had a very pretty and manly set of antlers. :) We also traveled by a lot of bird creatures (that scared me.. I read a review that the ostriches were a little aggressive haha) and traveled by a couple more deer!
No offense Emus... but ummm... AREN'T THEY TERRIFYING!?!?! Lol. The way they waddled by with their head bobs/while staring intensely at you... creepy! Lol.
FAVORITE!! The camel!! He/She was sooooo gorgeous and sooo huge! He must've been like 9 feet tall. Holy cow he was crazy enormous. He was like, the size of a building. He/she?! I'll just say he, haha, he was really gentle. Josh warned me to roll up the window because camels bite... but eventually I rolled my window down because really, he was a total sweetheart and I fed him from the hand and petted him. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was such a fun moment! Lol.
Awww that one mountain ram had a wonky horn! He was so precious though. :) And look! More llamas!!!!
Lots of pretty pretty beasts!! There were also tigers/more predatory animals in their pens, but obviously we couldn't drive up to them haha. The tigers were sleeping, too. Boohoo. :(
Okay... prepare for a lot of pictures of me and Josh's next favorite... the...
THE ZEBRAS!!!!! Of course they were all and I mean ALL of them were on Josh's side... lol he had such a fun time feeding them and petting them. We even got a couple videos of the zebras. :) They were so pretty! And so nice! I was afraid of petting them/feeding them from the hand, but they were gentleman/gentlewomen. Lol. Yes eventually I did manage to flag down a zebra on my side...
Shortly after the zebras, came the miniature ponies!! Oh my goddd they were so freaking adorable!! And the guy that came up to my window did a weird "trick"; he would open his mouth really wide so you could throw a pellet into his mouth lol. And he kept doing it for food... most hilarious thing ever. He was such a funny little weirdo pony!
This guy Josh rolled up his window Lol he did not want to risk anything, and he had crazyyyy gigantic horns. The car in front of us (a jeep with no doors) spent a lot of time with this guy. They were petting him all over the place and his head went inside their jeep! AHHH!!
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| THIS GUY SMELLED SO BAD!! LOL. |
Yeah that cow... I think... smelled like Desoto's farts. He was sooo steeeeeeenky and his nose was so wet and snotty! Yuck! Hahaha.
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| Then this guy came over to me. STINKY, SNOTTY, but funny. I fed him lots. :) |
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| Well well well, look who woke up!!! |
The camel was so awesome! He almost stuck his head in the window, but Josh didn't want him to so I couldn't let him. Lol.
Then afterwards, even after I was mesmerized (and Cam was awake) I made us all go see the petting zoo! It was so cool! An assortment of goats and baby goats, and there was a big turtle, and the camel was behind a big fenced in enclosure... well, you'll see. :D
*sigh* I was definitely in love with the whole experience. I'm still thanking Josh for taking us. Lol. Even though I wanted to go and used the (going as a "family") excuse, let's face it, this trip was pretty much to tickle my fancy since Camilla is a baby and she slept through the whole darn thing! LOL. But I am very very happy that Josh had a great time too! I know this is just a drop in the bucket to what our family will experience in the future. I'm so excited for tips to Disneyland and Disneyworld, etc. It will be so so fun. The Zoo Safari day was an amazing adventure, and there's no buts about it, we will be back again!!!!
Hope you all enjoyed the pictures! It's impossible to capture the wonder and excitement, but maybe the pictures showed how cool it really was. I felt like a kid again reveling in all the fun of the animals and being able to feed them. It was just so much fun! :) It's a shame I had no idea this place existed when Sandra was here! She's a wildlife biologist and I know she would've had as much fun as me! Ah well! :)
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