Johannesburg Zoo

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Today we took 21 of the 29 permanent Lambano kids to the Joburg Zoo. A company was taking kids from various homes around the area for charity and Lambano was one of them! I got to go because I was one of the drivers. Woke up to an overcast sky :P Had to be there at 9am so we were getting ready to leave by quarter past 8. One problem, our gate at 82 wouldn't open. The night before we got a horrendous storm it poured for over an hour and flooded everything, and started leaking into my room lol. But anyways because of all the movement of water with all the mud and sand it was preventing the gate from opening. We finally got it open and it was already 8:30. Sibylle (long term volunteer from Switzerland) was to drive the Blue Kombi and I was to drive the White Kia. And 2 of the house mothers were coming with us to help with the kids. After getting the gate open we only discover that the Blue Kombi wouldn't start. So we drove to the 36 house to get Jenna's car and try to fit as many as we could between the Kia which seats 12 and the car which seats 5. Jenna was out with the car so Siyblle went to go get the yellow car, she came walking back at 9 saying that the yellow car wouldn't start either. By then Jenna had returned and Siyblle took her car with 5 kids and I drove the Kia with 16 kids. The 2 mamas had to stay home. I asked them before we left if they could tell me what car manners were and why it was important. I was following Siyblle who knew how to get there but still needed not to be distracted since we were going on the highway also. Not that I'm not used to driving a car full of noisy kids ;)

We got to the zoo and it was almost 10 but the other kids from other homes were still lining up, getting wrist bands etc. so it worked out fine! We had 3 people from the company assigned to our group to help and off we went. It was a really nice zoo! Compared to the zoo back home this one was much more open! Not so tightly locked up and caged. Like if a person wanted to they could basically get into were the animals were! We saw most of the main animals except the tiger which the kids were a bit disappointed about. I liked seeing the Pumba! Like from the Disney movie the Lion King..don't think I've seen one before at a zoo :)

At noon we met back with all the other kids and we given lunch a burger and chips, then they had a little show for the kids and ice cream. By then it was after 2 and we went to see the snakes and I went around and they had signs up telling which ones were poisonous and what would happen to you if you got bit and where they were located in Africa. The worst one I can't remember then name was extremely venomous and if bit your kidneys etc would start shutting down, eek!

We got back to Lambano and it was almost 4. I had a really great time. I haven't been to 34 and 78 houses very much so it was good to hang out with those kids and get to know them better. The next 2 weeks are holiday from school so I won't be as busy with school runs and such, probably will spend time at the hospice mostly and then just relax :)

So excited :P

Wouldn't wanna fall down there!

Lookin at the lions

Lunchtime