Virginia Safari Park
Our Monday adventure started with a visit to Virginia Safari
Park located immediately outside of our campground. The Virginia Safari Park is a 180-acre
drive-through zoo with free roaming animals where visitors can feed elk,
llamas, bison, ostrich, deer, antelope and other animals in a three-mile safari
ride. Visitors ride through the
grounds in their personal vehicles or in large wagons. The advantage to the large wagon is that you
won’t be cleaning animal feed out of your car for the next four months.
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| Welcome to Virginia Safari Park |
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| Waiting for Our Wagon to be Readied |
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| Hi Folks, May I Eat Inside Your Car? |
Each of us was given a large plastic tub of animal feed to dispense to the local residents as we boarded our tractor-pulled wagon. Immediately after entering the preserve,
llamas, antelope, and ostrich approached the wagon looking for handouts. Naturally, we felt it was our duty to
accommodate the “poor” creatures. As the
wagon moved along the roadway, different sets of animals approached. We found some animals very gentle in their
approach to eating out the food containers.
Some of the animals were more aggressive while munching out of the
container. And then there were others
that insisted on grabbing the entire container from our hands and walking away
with all the food. Needless to say, the
last group didn’t get handouts offered after seeing them in action.
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| Hey There. May I Join You For Lunch? |
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| Which One of You is Named Art? |
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| Hi, Mr. Art. |
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| Thanks, Don't Mind if I Do. |
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| Mr. Sonny, Art Sent Me to See You. |
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| Thanks Ed. |
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| Don't Worry. I Can Handle This Myself. |
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| Hey Guys, Look What I Got. |
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| This is a Helluva Way for America's Mammal to Get Some Lunch |
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| We Almost Lost Jim This Afternoon |
Upon completing the safari ride, we explored some of the
additional ten acres set aside for a “village walk-thru” where animals such as
tigers, penguins, giraffes, tortoises, kangaroos, and many other animals were
on display in penned areas. This area also
offered opportunities to feed small animals in a petting area.
Before leaving the safari park, we enjoyed a fried chicken
picnic catered by a local restaurant.
Natural Bridge
We departed the safari park and drove to the Natural Bridge
to complete the adventure that was deferred from Sunday. Natural Bridge is a geological formation in
western Virginia in which a creek has carved out a gorge in the mountainous
limestone terrain. The bridge consists
of limestone strata and is the remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel through
which the creek once flowed.
Some of us walked down the 137 steps from the visitor center while others
rode a shuttle bus to the base of the bridge that stands 215 feet high. The bridge is taller than either Niagara
Falls or Eiffel Tower.
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| I Know There's a Geocache Here |
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| Les and Wilma Jean |
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| Paul and Betsy |
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| Sonny and Sally |
After exploring the bridge, some of the group walked farther
along the path at the base of the bridge to a replica of a small Monacan Indian
village. The village contained a couple
of family dwelling huts covered with either tree bark or cattails. The site also had a women’s workstation and
an outdoor community kitchen. On site
interpreters spoke with us about life in the village and the crafts they were
working on.
After returning to the campground, we enjoyed another great
supper of a baked potato bar and left over chicken from lunch that was prepared
by food team 1. Thank you ladies.
