~ Lauren Ross July 24, 2013
Last week, we took a staycation. I'll be sharing some of the fun things that we did right in our backyard, but for the funnest thing by far we had to venture a little further out of state and into Ohio.
The Wilds is the one of the largest wildlife conservation centers in the world. It's located In The Middle of Nowhere, Ohio (Okay, actually Cumberland, Ohio). They took some 10,000 surface mined acres of land, revitalized it, and plopped some 31 endangered species of animals in the middle of it (See the teeny tiny mama rhino and baby? More on those in a bit).
It's pretty darn amazing.
The best part, of course, is you get to go on an actual safari to see (and smell) the animals up close and personal.We took the 2 1/2 hour open air tour, but you can also take an air condition bus tour, like the one pictured above.
If you're thinking it must be just like Jurassic Park...
...you're darn tootin' it is.
We kicked off the tour with some Bactrian Camels. At first they just stood there looking at us.
But then they decided to get friendly.
Maybe a little too friendly.
After awhile, they got bored and decided to harass the bus behind us.
Time to see what else we can spot!
There's mama and her baby!
These are called Przewalski’s Wild Horses.
Checking out the horses as they check out the bus.
We took a rest stop at the lake the Trumpeter Swans call home.
They were used to getting fed.
Now here's something that you don't see everyday. This guy is called a Sichuan Takin.
Of course, you're at the mercy of the animals in terms of what you do and don't see, like these zebra. We also saw ostrich, several species of deer, bison, cheetahs and African Wild Dogs, but they were too far in the distance to get good photos. There are also giraffe at the center, but we didn't spot them at all. No matter - we purchased a membership so we plan on having more adventures at The Wilds during the next year. Hmm...maybe I should invest in a zoom lens....
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