What a nice surprise it was, when I found out that I had won some free tickets to Monde Sauvage Safari Parc, located about an hour's drive from Tervuren. This safari/zoo turned out to be the perfect outing for our family.
Ray and I were not really expecting too much, having both visited the old Lion Country Safari in California, as children. We both remembered the disappointment of seeing "wild" animals lazily lounging in the warm Orange County sun, as carloads of families drove by, wondering "is this what Africa is really like?"
However, the safari at Monde Sauvage was definitely something different. The morning was crisp and cool and the animals were all quite active! In fact, the park attendant warned us to stay clear of some of the active young bucks, that were wrestling with each other and could, quite possibly, "ram" our car with full force! (hmm, how would I explain this to Toyota? "No, it really is a door ding!" - Ray)
During our drive-thru safari, we saw giraffes, deer, hippos, a rhino, some elephants (in an enclosure), ostriches, and zebras, just to name a few.
In fact, the zebras were quite entertaining as they tried to steal some of the snacks the girls were eating. (Jo's shaking of the snack bag and calling the Zebras over didn't help - Ray
Ray quickly rolled up the car windows as they got too close -- a pretty close call! The girls' excitement from the back seats was enough satisfaction to make this trip worthwhile for us all. So satisfying that we made a sharp turn at the exit and drove back in for a second tour!
After our 2nd drive-thru, we parked our car and walked through the zoo area. Monde Sauvage has quite an extensive collection of big cats, ranging from lions, black leopards, panthers, pumas, tigers and cheetahs. They also have such animals as brown bears, polar bears, white wolves, chimpanzees, etc...
After lunch in the cafeteria/restaurant, we checked out the adjoining playground, which all four of us enjoyed. There was quite an entertaining swing, where 5 of the swings face each other, in a pentagon-like shape. Imagine the fun while trying to swing and not kick the feet of the opposing swingers! Like we have said, Belgium has some really entertaining playgrounds...
We spent the day watching 3 live-animal shows -- the parrot show, the seal show and the birds-of-prey show, which, incidentally, was the highlight of them all. Seeing these large and beautiful birds fly a mere inches above your head puts you in the middle of all the action! It really didn't matter that the shows were all in French!
What a great day it was -- the best part being the big smiles on the girls' faces. Not bad for free tickets!
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