Day Three: Monkeys, Payback, and Kansas City Blues

We awoke late again on day three, (Spoiler alert: we woke up late on days four, five and six as well) but it turned out to be just fine. We made it to the African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Canada about 45 minutes before it opened, and there was absolutely no line. We bought our tickets, cleaned our windshield and side windows and waited for the gates to open. It is worth noting that although I did pack a cleaner for window cleaning purposes, it turned out to be bleach kitchen cleaner and thus we were left trying to catch the washer fluid on paper towels as it sprayed from the jets. I was DETERMINED to have clean windows because I had read online that you cannot open your windows and I did not want my wild animal shots speckled with smashed bugs and dirt!

We were warned that the Safari took no responsibility for damage to our vehicle or our person, and then we were allowed to enter!

Things started out pretty tame... there were some birds (for me they were in some ways the scariest of the things...) which I quickly took pictures of.

The excitement quickly picked up as we encountered some sort of bull-like horned animals...

And then there was a roadblock of llamas, which prompted an impromptu performance of the song "Me and My Llama."

After sitting a moment and waiting for the lamas to clear the road, we approached a sign that caused us just a second of pause.

And they were not kidding! Around the next bend we found another roadblock, one that could eat either of us for dinner! Lions were just roaming freely, acting as if it were not at all unusual that a Kia optima with two Missourians were traveling toward them humming "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." At one point I had to wonder if they were animatronic.

Next on the tour were the cheetahs. In the picture below you can see a fence behind them, but what you can't see is that contained within the fence are horses. The cheetahs paced the fence, passing each other by, watching the horses. At this moment the song in my head changed to "The Circle of Life."

You are given the option to bypass the baboons because they have been known to climb on your car and do some damage, but I really wanted to see them, so we drove right past the bypass.

There were about 5 baby baboons, and they were adorable. I wanted to scoop one up, but I thought Scout might be jealous. Also, I am not sure Bryan would have let me back in the car.

After we sat there and watched the baboons for awhile, one decided to have a seat on the hood of our car...

Then his friend joined him and they had lunch, right there on my windshield.

As if to tempt me, the baby decided to join the others! He loved my side mirror.

As cool as this was, and as much as we enjoyed watching the baboons,after about 2 minutes there were 7 or eight on the car, and others surrounding it. The cute baby had my windshield wiper in his hand and we were beginning to panic. We tried moving only a foot or two each way, hoping it would startle them and they would jump down, but they were not phased. Bryan sounded the horn hoping to get some help from the closest ranger, but they were equally indifferent. Eventually the largest monkey jumped off an all the others followed. I cannot describe the sigh of relief that overwhelmed the car!

Taking a deep breath we turned a new corner and saw and ostrich repeatedly pecking at a van that was ahead of us. I could not wait to get there.

Sure enough as soon as we pulled up the ostrich (note: the song changed to "Ozzie the Ostrich") came up the street toward the car, blocking our path.

It came to the passenger side and began trying to peck through the glass. Over and over it rammed its beak into the window. It was terrifying and very cool.

We would have been satisfied that our $50.00 in tickets had been worth it at that point, but then we came to the giraffes, zebras and rhinos. The giraffes were incredible. They were so close to the car, and SO TALL. The baby giraffes were very playful and were running back and forth across the road in front of the car.

(If you are wondering what is all over the windshield in the giraffe picture, it is a monkey paw print. I love it.)

There was the most adorable donkey...

Some animals I cannot identify, perhaps tahrs???

Some of the cutest deer I have ever seen...

And finally a herd of bison... think "home on the range"

From the Safari we made our way to Toronto for what was to be a walking tour of the city...

We checked into our very colorful hotel -

And then it began to pour. I mean really, you could hardly see through it. But having only one day to see the city, we grabbed an umbrella and headed out. We made it as far as the subway, took the train one stop, got off, took come pictures under the cover of the umbrella, and made our way back to the hotel. I believe Canada was trying to get us back for our bad-talking it...

At the recommendation of some friends, and some members of tripadvisor, we made reservsations at "The Reservoir Lounge" for dinner. It is a speakeasy and was as great as we thought it would be. The music was awesome (standards and great blues), the food was unique and the atmosphere was fancy but understated and comfortable. It was a perfect way to end the day.

(Please note that I had straightened my hair 15 minutes before this picture was taken... then it rained. A lot.)

By the time we left the rain has stopped. Toronto was nicer at night.

Even the subway was quiet...

Our hotel looked very much like an apartment from the hallway. I am not sure what the building used to be, but I would imagine it was some sort of temporary housing.

And that was day three. Stay tuned for days 4 - 10!

P.S. We have video of the baboons, the ostrich and the giraffes! I will post them later!