Pretoria Zoo

We went to the Pretoria Zoo on Colombus day. It was a quiet day there and we had the whole place to ourselves. Here's Max on the cable car.









Poor elephant, trying to get a drink of water from the sprinkler! Every time it looked like he was going to get a sip, the spray would hit the tree and skip the elephant.







This is an Okapi, the only living relative of the giraffe. It is a fun looking animal that has giraffe horns and tongue--it can lick its own ears!, with zebra-like striped legs. It is only found in the Eastern Congo. It reminds Becky of the Whingdingdilly from Bill Peet. As for Mark, he would like to add this important piece of trivia for your geewhiz box: the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo runs a radio station in war-torn Eastern Congo called "Radio Okapi." So there you go.

In spring time, the streets of Pretoria are lined with purple from the blooming Jacaranda trees. You'll have to enlarge this one to see all the trees. We took this picture from the top of the zoo. (Brooke's been there with Becky and the kids where they enjoyed the Cheetos she brought them!)