Simba Safari

One thing I didn't think about while living in another country is that your holidays change.  Memorial Day is just another day here.  Same with the 4th of July, Presidents Day, Thanksgiving, and many others.. Sad, sure, but there are other days.. SURPRISE holidays that are typically just "ordinary days" to us, that are suddenly things to look forward to! 

This Wednesday was one of those "surprise" holidays!  "Dia das criancas" or in English, "The day of the kids" (okay, it was also a Catholic holiday in remembrance of Saint I believe, but either way - no school, and NO WORK for the Hubster - WOO HOO!).  So, I know you're just dying to know what we did for our very first "Dia das criancas", so I'll just get right down to it!

We drove the 30 minute or so trek to the Zoological (the Sao Paulo Zoo).  The only problem was the 30 minute trek for some reason took 2 1/2 HOURS!  As we naively wondered why there was SO much traffic, we slowly realized one very key point:  Today is "Dia das criancas"... EVERYONE who has a child of their own, or has a relative with a child, or a friend with a child, or thought ahead to rent a child for the day (ok, not really), is headed to the zoo!  We drove past literally THOUSANDS of people who parked miles away and were walking there.  When we drove past the entrance to the zoo it was a sight to behold!  You would have thought Justin Beiber was selling the tickets to get inside and was giving out free autographed shirts to everyone who got in.  And once you finally got in Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Katy Perry and Madonna were all offering free hour long massages to help promote their latest albums, which they were also giving away.. for free!  Ludicrous I tell you!  The hubster took one look at the enormous mob and said, "No way!" in as nice a way as humanly possible.  Visions of missing children, and pick pocketers danced through our heads as we realized it wasn't just "crowded", it was down right dangerous!

Not wanting to cause emotional episodes in our car full of excited youngsters we drove on knowing we had one more option, and desperatly hoped it was less popular than the first!  "Simba Safari" was PERFECT!  A drive through zoo, that was still crowded, but in comparison to the main zoo, almost vacant.  Plus, we were in the safety of our car, so all visions of lost kiddos vanished and mom and dad were able to breathe a sigh of sweet relief!  We purchased food for the animals and in we drove...

 First creature of note were these evil looking emu's.. we watched them terrorize the zookeepers and chase them around.  Needless to say, we opted not to feed them!

I was excited when I saw an ostrich in the distance and gave the kids handfuls of food for him reassuring them that he should be nicer than the emu's.  Whether he was nice or not I do not know.. what I do know, is that a giant bird in your face with a beak made for human dismemberment is terrifying to say the leats.  So naturally, I threw my food at him, snapped a picture, and rolled up my window as fast as I could!  The kids took my lead and chucked their food too, scrambling to the opposite side of the car with sounds of terror escaping their poor panicked selves.  Who knows?  Maybe I misjudged him.  But I'll take my chances and pay for it in the next life if need be!

 Gators galore.  Glad they don't like pellets because I wasn't going there either!

Princess P was quite enthralled and made sure her daddy was on his toes while driving with her oh so helpful (and wiggly) aid!

These guys were pretty slick, and the most active buffalo I've ever seen!

The deer were an all time favorite.  Sadly I cut off Mr H's head here, but I can vouch for him - that IS his hand feeding the deer! :)

Even the hubster got in on the action with these guys!

Happy children on kids day!

 The poor soul looked like he needed a bit more room to roam.. :(

The camels were another favorite for the kiddos..

I am a big cat kind of gal myself, and this one didn't disappoint!  B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!

The king of the Jungle was quite a beast too!  The boys especially LOVED him.  He even gave us an ear show and roared so loud our bones quivered!

We tried to feed the llama but she wasn't so impressed..  apparently her mother never taught her that it isn't polite to stare.. or maybe she was just giving us an eerie taste of our own medicine??

Tchau llama!

And last but not least, more gorgeous tigers! 

On our way home from the Simba Safari, we were quite starved when we happened upon a Pizza Hut!  The hubster rushed in to buy 2 pizzas to finish off kids day right.  When I say "we splurged", I am not just talking calories.. I almost choked when I saw the receipt for this one.  R$100!!!  But wait, my man got a great "deal" by ordering a specific crust and recieved 20% off of everything, so we only had to pay about R$83 which is approx the equivalent of $50.. yeah.  I hope they enjoyed it, cause it aint happenin' again! (Love them as I do..)

 HAPPY KIDS DAY EVERYONE!!! :)