The Wilds Safari Tour

Another amazing adventure we got to share with Grandpa and Grandma McGrew was The Wilds. The Wilds is one of the world's largest conservation centers and is located on 10,000 acres near Zanesville, Ohio. We took a guided tour on an open-air bus and saw many of the rare and endangered species from around the world living in natural open-range habitat.
Gavin was so excited to ride on a bus! He loves buses! Alexa kept yelling out the names of the animals that she was spotting and Gavin kept pointing out all the other tour buses he saw in the distance, "Bus!"

We picked the most gorgeous day to go on the tour. It was 63 degrees and sunny. Even our guide said that it was the best day all year. Because of the cool weather, we saw almost all of the animals. On very hot days, the animals tend to stay put in the shade so we were very lucky. Most of the animals were out right next to the road so we could see them up close.

Alexa enjoyed seeing the animals and then finding the identification picture on her pamphlet.

The giraffes may have been our favorite animals that we saw that day.
Another favorite was the zebras, although I didn't get a picture. The only male of the pack was named Elvis!

We had chosen the tour recommended for children (it was the shortest tour, but still 1.5 hours) and afterwards we had the opportunity to go inside one of the education buildings to meet some of Jack Hanna's traveling animals. The kids got to pet a penguin, a silver fox, and an armadillo. They also brought in a 9 month old cheetah for us to see, but couldn't pet. The kids loved this.

The cheetah had his eye on my children playing in the back of the room! I was really glad that the man had a good hold on the leash.

Alexa pets the penguin.