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Out of Africa

I saw this billboard on my way from work last week that was advertising the Out of Africa Wildlife Park and it showed this huge laughing camel and it said: “ Call us wild, call us crazy, just don’t call us a zoo!” I always wanted to go there, but it’s about 1.5 hours away and we didn’t think it would be worth it, since it was just another zoo. Well, that billboard totally sold us and we decided to take a trip there last weekend. I gotta say, the advertising was pretty good, but also totally misleading, because it was exactly what we thought it would be, just another zoo. I even think the Phoenix Zoo would’ve been so much better, but we decided to make the best out of it and enjoyed the day.





Ich sah ein Werbeplakat auf dem Weg von der Arbeit letzte Woche, welches Werbung fuer den Out of Africa Wildlife Park machte und es war ein großes, lachendes Kamel abgebildet und es sagte: "Nennen Sie uns wild oder verrueckt, aber nennen Sie uns nicht einen Zoo!" Ich wollte schon immer dorthin gehen, aber es ist etwa 1,5 Stunden von uns entfernt und wir dachten, dass es sich nicht lohnen würde, da es nur ein weiterer Zoo war. Nun, das Billboard hat uns total ueberzeugt, dass dem nicht so war und wir beschlossen, am vergangenen Wochenende dorthin zu fahren. Ich muss sagen, die Werbung war ziemlich gut, aber auch nicht wirklich wahrheitsgemaess, denn es war genau das, was wir dachten, ein weiterer Zoo.
Ich glaube sogar, der Phoenix Zoo wäre besser gewesen, aber wir haben das Beste daraus gemacht und haben den Tag genossen.

We fed some giraffes and camels.

Wir fütterten einige Giraffen und Kamele.
We saw the Tiger Splash Show, which was pretty entertaining, but made me feel sad for the tiger. They lured him with toys, just to take them away from him once he got them...




Wir sahen die Tiger Splash Show, die sehr unterhaltsam war, aber es machte mich auch traurig für den Tiger. Sie lockten ihn mit Spielzeug, nur um ihm das dann wieder wegzunehmen, sobald er es hatte...

The Anaconda Show was probably the highlight of the trip, just because they chose me as one of the volunteers who were supposed to hold the snake. Man, I’m tellin ya, that thing was HEAVY! I was in charge of holding the head and at that point I was already regretting raising my hand so quickly to volunteer. I just kept thinking to myself, “I guess they know what they’re doing, it won’t bite you”, followed by “Please don’t bite me, please don’t bite me”. Anyway, it kept moving out of my hands and around my body, which made the people in charge freak out and they kept yelling at me that I need to hold it better. Uhm...okay, I’m TRYING!



After all, it was an awesome experience and I think it’s always good to push your own limits.


Die Anaconda Show war wohl der Höhepunkt der Reise, vermutlich nur, weil sie mich als eine der Freiwilligen ausgewaehlt hatten, die die Schlange halten sollten. Mann, ich sag euch, das Ding war vielleicht schwer! Ich war für das Halten des Kopfes verantwortlich und bereits da bedauerte ich, dass ich meine Hand so schnell hob und mich als Freiwillige gemeldet hatte. Ich dachte mir: "Ich vermute, sie wissen was sie tun, sie wird dich schon nicht beissen", gefolgt von "Bitte beiss mich nicht, bitte beiss mich nicht!." Sie versuchte immer, sich aus meinen Haenden und um meinen Körper zu schlaengeln, was die Trainer dort leicht panisch machte und sie meckerten staendig herum, dass ich sie besser halten sollte. Ähm ... okay, ich versuche es ja!



Es war auf jeden Fall eine super Erfahrung und ich denke, es ist immer gut, seine eigenen Grenzen zu testen und sie zu ueberwinden.



We ended the trip with a short stop in Sedona, which was only half an hour away and it’s my absolute favorite city in Arizona. Beautiful doesn’t even cut it, it’s just STUNNING there, I love it.




Wir beendeten den Ausflug mit einem kurzen Stop in Sedona, was nur eine halbe Stunde entfernt war und es ist meine absolute Lieblingsstadt in Arizona. Schön ist gar kein Ausdruck dafuer, es ist einfach atemberaubend dort, ich liebe es.


Did I mention it was SO windy?
At the end of the day, we had dirt all over our faces, messy hair and a sunburn!:)
It was a good day!

Habe ich erwähnt, dass es windig war?
Am Ende des Tages hatten wir überall auf unseren Gesichtern Dreck, unordentliche Haare und einen Sonnenbrand!:)
Es war ein guter Tag!

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