When Keilee was 5 I took her to Harmony Park Safari.† It was the greatest time.† I don’t know WHY we waiting so long to go back.† It is about an hour from here and it is a drive thru ZOO.† This is seriously one of the coolest places we have ever been.† We made a vow that we are going at least twice a year.
It a a federally funded park with animals roaming free.† You can buy food, which I definitely suggest doing.† They tell you to leave the windows half way up and throw the food on the ground.† We don’t follow directions very well.† We had animals with their heads firmly planted in our windows and eating out of our hands.
I haven’t laughed so hard in forever.† You can stay as long as you like, it loops around and you can go out or go back around.† We were there about 2 hours.
We saw:
Shetland Ponies, Zebras, Buffaloes, Emus, Geese, Goats, Tortoises, Bison, Turtles, Bulls, Albino Turtle, Deer, Pythons, Alpacas, Frogs, Camels, Iguanas, Monkeys, Kangaroo, Alligators, Lemur, †and Peacocks. I am sure I am forgetting several.
Most of these were roaming free except for the camel, reptiles, lemurs and the kangaroo!
It truly felt like an African Safari.† All we needed were bush hats!
The Zebra was my favorite.† Zebras have been my favorite animal all my life.† Zebras and giraffes.† Unfortunately there were no† Giraffes on this safari.
There were so many great moments.† Keilee is a lover of all things animal but she isn’t too fond of emus.† She loves them, but our friend Esther got nipped by one a few years ago and she has been very leery of them since then.† Every time an emu came near it was UP with the windows.† I was laughing so much at her.
The giant TONGUE is a deer.† He licked my camera right when I was taking a picture.† We wondered about the goose.† I can’t find anything that looks like the one in the picture.† We wondered if maybe it was rescued from an oil spill.
I had just gotten LICKED by a deer.† We both got lots of slobber on us!
The Bull was one thing we DID roll up our windows for.† He came right up to the car.† Keilee’s favorites were the Alpacas.
Alpacas are gorgeous!† Look how this sheep is molting!† There were so many animals that my slightly OCD self wanted to take a brush to!
We got to get out to explore the Tortoise and Reptile house.† We loved feeding the Tortoises.† Those suckers were MUCH faster than we thought.† Turtle and the Hare Indeed!
We had such a great time.† Of course at the end of the day there was 2 cups of feed in my car and the windows were streaked with animal slobber.† Nothing a run through the car wash and a vacuum couldn’t fix!
So now we are off on another adventure!† More to come later.
Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen
ìThe greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.î† ~Mahatma Gandhi
ìSome people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.î† ~A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
ìThere the wild animals wandered and fed as though they were in a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no settlers.î† ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
What fun! We tried to go to a place like this yesterday but it was closed. Hopefully we will go again this coming week. Thank you for dropping by and leaving such kind words. You are too nice to me!
I love this post! It looks like you were having so much fun together and with the animals. 🙂 Everyday should be so sweet!
Oh, gosh, the animals were sticking their heads right in the vehicle! LOL Looks like a blast!
We have something similar here, except you can rent their zoo striped van and drive thru in it — we were laughing so hard because my husband was forgetting to drive because he was too worried about all of the animals coming up to us. It was funny — Grant was so little I just have video of him bouncing up and down on my lap and giggling. We just need to go again – thanks to your post!!
You got some GREAT photos!
My favourite image in all of this is a mental oneósomething you couldn’t have photographed: the two of you laughing together in the carÖyour heads thrown back, both of you completely in the moment, and SO delighted with life. It makes me smile and smile and smile!
I love that you went here. I love that you were scared of the emu (poor emu, all fuzzy and huge and wondering where the love went?). I love that there was a zebra poking its nose into your car. I love all the photos. I love that you had such a wonderful time. What a happy happy day you had. Thank you so much for sharing your happy, Karen. 🙂
Oh my goodness! Alexa and Jared would absolutely love to go to this park! We don’t have anything quite like that around here. I’ve been thinking about planning an Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi trip in the next few years. If we can go, this place would be at the top of our list 🙂
Oh my gosh that looks like fun! That zebra was beautiful. I did a drive thru safari when I was little and I have pictures of monkeys all over our car. 🙂
How fun! We have a drive through safari here too, and we’re all scared of the emus. They come right up to the window (which we have rolled up since we’re scared) and peck at it. The zebras are our favorites…and the camels too. At least one of those didn’t lick you! Love the photos…such a great day for you two:)
Sounds like tons of fun! My favorite pictures were the zebra series.
What fun! We went to a place like that, years ago, and one critter got its head stuck in our car for a moment. For the life of me, I can’t remember what kind of animal it was. The photos are magnificent!
This looks like SO much fun! You really got some incredible pictures! You give your daughter such wonderful experiences and opportunities. 🙂
Looks like you both had SO much fun! Of course, I did see some pics on Keilee’s blog when I stopped by there for a visit the other day 😉
I love it Karen! I have always talked about taking the boys, but haven’t ever made it. If it’s not 90* next week we may sneak in a zoo trip ourselves. Let me know when you go again!
I LOVE that you don’t have to get out of your car!! How fun!!! I love the photo of you laughing!
this is amazing, karen. love the zebra. i’d just have to remember… flat hands!! ha! no scratches or dings on the car? 😉