Twilight Safari

Last night we kicked off the Halloween season with a flashlight tour and twilight safari ride through the Catoctin Zoo.  Ryan was so excited for the adventure that he picked out matching safari shirts (i.e., ones with elephants) for he and Gavin to wear.  He also made sure that we each had a flashlight to use during the guided nighttime tour of the zoo.  For all you naysayers out there, the crank flashlight served us well when the batteries in Mike's recharageable police flashlight died!  (For those of you who don't understand the reference, last year Mike became enamored with the crank flashlight and gave one to everyone on his Christmas list!  Many did not understand or share his enthusiasm for it.)






I don't think Ryan realized that a flashlight tour meant that it would be completely dark outside.  We soon discovered that the zoo can be a pretty scary place at night, especially with spooky lighting, Halloween decorations, creepy fog (courtesy of a fog machine), and chilling animal sounds.  Ryan was far braver than I would have expected.  I have to admit, I was a little spooked stumbling along the dimly lit wooded paths listening to the owls hoot and the wolves howl.  It was also a little unnerving shining a flashlight around a pitch black exhibit trying to catch a prowling mountain lion in the light beam.  Or, shining a flashlight through the murky waters of the alligator pond trying to see the red glint of the alligators' eyes as they lurk just below the water's surface.  The worst, by far, was the reptile exhibit.  Imagine feeling your way through a dark building, with only your flashlight to light your way.  As flashlight beams danced throughout the small room, we were able to catch brief glimpses of bats flying around their cage and snakes slithering around their tanks!  Ugh!  The feature snake was 250 lbs and feasts on rabbits and chickens!  Seriously, I'll have nightmares about that for awhile!  None of us had any interest in spending any more time there than we had to!  We made a hasty exit to safer grounds!  







The best part of the adventure was the safari ride.  The zoo has a small fleet of authentic-looking safari trucks that they decorated with hay bales and hanging, lit ghosts.  The off-road ride was so bumpy that it actually felt like we were driving through the wild in search of exotic beasts.  We didn't see any elephants, rhinos, zebras, or lions, but we did see buffalo, camels, deer, and antelope.  The animals we encountered must be used to safari trucks regularly driving through their exhibits because they did not seem fazed by our presence.  In fact, much to Ryan's surprise and delight, many of the animals came up to greet us, and some ran alongside the safari truck as we drove through.  Watching the bison thunder alongside us almost within arms' reach, was quite a thrilling experience.  It was especially exciting when they tried to escape as the safari guides quickly closed the gates once the truck passed through!






Following the safari ride, we enjoyed light refreshments, warmed up around a small campfire, petted some camels and goats, and were guided the rest of the way through the zoo.  Although it was a late night, we all had a really great time. It certainly put us in the Halloween spirit and introduced us to a zoo that we'd like to go explore again in the daylight!