October 09 – Monarto ZOO

I arrived at Monarto Zoo early and enjoyed a coffee out on the deck before our tour was due to start. While ordering my coffee, Mel, Stephanie, Danielle, and Lisa arrived. It is definitely spring time because it came to my attention very quickly that 2 out of 5 of us were pregnant, Danielle - 19 weeks and Mel - 13 weeks – congratulations Ladies, more Ladies in the making! Once Rebecca and Louise arrived we boarded our very exclusive bus (a whole bus for just the 7 of us)…

I'm not going to go into detail about each animal, (check out the photos under out "Photo Gallery" link) but I must say the Zebra's had us laughing. Firstly they were the only animal that walked in front of our bus, not once but twice and I think that proves the point of where the "Zebra Crossing" came from. Louise also made us laugh when she said how much she loved the Zebra's Mohawks, which later in the day the "Ladies Day Legend" trophy was awarded to Louise for just this.

The Cheetah's looked very cute just lazing under a tree (what a life) but it did freak me out a bit when we had to enter 3 gates, one after the other to get into the carnivore section of the zoo. The lions were gorgeous, I don’t know about you but I just wanted to go up a cuddle them but I probably would've looked like a tall piece of steak walking towards them. The lions were very active, one of the boss's of Monarto Zoo was driving his family around, they too had stopped to look at the lions but they had got out of the car to get a bit more personal (they did have a fence between them). The Lions were right up at the fence looking at these people but once they turned their backs to get back in their car the lion went to pounce. Our tour guide pointed out that because they had turned their back they were showing the lions that their defences were down and they now became an easy target. So remember ladies, next time you are out strolling around in Africa and a lion comes charging at you, you have a better chance of survival if you stare them down than to turn your back and run.

After our tour had finished we took a 2 minute stroll to the new Chimpanzee's home. They are amazing creatures to watch, they were playing tug of war with blankets, poking each other in their faces and then they would turn around with their arms crossed and sulk this had us in hysterics.

A good day was ended by a relaxing lunch, in the gardens of Monarto Zoo with Louise taking home the "Ladies Day Legend" trophy, Lisa received her welcome gift being her first "Ladies Day" and to make her feel welcome I asked her to draw the winner for the raffle prize and she drew out Danielle's ticket – not rigged ladies?

Here's a fact for you, the Bison has a huge lump on the top of its neck and back which is made up of muscle to hold up its head, it must be a very heavy head!

Thank you girls for coming and see you in November! Anita xoxo