Becoming One Of The Pride

This weekend has been super nice and relaxing. Our excursion this weekend was close so that allowed us to stay in P.E. but still get in some fun.

Petting a lion!

Yesterday, five of us headed to Seaview which is a small game reserve in Port Elizabeth where they let you go inside the cage to pet wild lions and tigers. We took a cab there and had him drive us through the park where we saw giraffe, zebras, lynx, warthogs, and of course, lions and tigers. When we arrived at the petting cages we simply paid and went in. I wasn't at all nervous prior to going in because these were cubs and it just didn't really occur to me that they could actually hurt us. However, before going in they reminded us that they were wild animals. Also, once I got a good glimpse of them I noticed they were bigger than me. They weren't even a year old! Nonetheless, I still went in. I first sat down and petted the lion. It cocked its head back and gave my knee a lick which was cool but a little frightening. Having those teeth that close wasn't the most comforting thing in the world. Then I was able to pet the two tigers that were in the cage as well. Their fur is softer than the lions which is kind of tough. I think the tigers were intrigued by my hair color ha seriously, though. They would always look up and become interested when I was petting them. Hey, red hair is cool I guess ha.

In the cage with Katie!

Overall, the experience was very fun and being able to touch and get that close to lions and tigers was amazing! I couldn't believe I was actually in a cage with them. Once we had finished we drove back to Langerry and spent the rest of the day at the beach surfing and relaxing. Great way to spend a Saturday. Today I am just working on a paper for political science and finishing up some other stuff that needed to get done.

Looking interested

Looking ahead, there are three four day weekends in a row coming up. South Africa really knows how to plan their public holidays in April and May. I'm not complaining, though. This will give me enough time to do big excursions and activities like go to the Drakensberg Mountains (next weekend) and scuba dive (three weekends from now). Both will be awesome!

Oh and yes, my hair style has changed. My buddy, Sam, and I promised that we would get some crazy hairdo while abroad and we stuck to that promise. On Friday he got cornrows and I got a mohawk! I actually kind of like it but will probably shave it completely sometime this coming week. It was fun to do.

Petting a tiger!