It's All Happening at the Zoo...

Friday, for work, I got to chaperone 19 six year olds at the Johannesburg Zoo. It's a tough life.

Seriously though, I love LOVE the zoo. Aside from the normal excitement, uncontrollable grinning, and need to see everything, my joy was heightened each time I looked at one of the grade Rs; it was their very first visit to the zoo and they'd been thinking about it for over a week.

A company (I don't remember the name) donated money for each child to go to the zoo, have lunch, a snack, and a christmas present. And they needed adults to go along. (I'm an adult!)

We got to see two elephants, a hippopotamus, crocodiles, zebras, lions, monkeys, tigers, snakes, polar bears, and others. The monkeys were the biggest hit. There was one chimpanzee that sat against the glass and allowed the kids to have their picture taken (see facebook for visual aid). I felt sorry for the polar bear. It was out in the heat and surely it was uncomfortable. I was glad though that the kids were able to see it. I will show them where the North Pole is on Monday.

Another fun part of the day was the kiddie rides. The zoo had the kind of rides you would find at a county fair, and one of the men from the donating company gave us enough money for each child to have two rides. Not only were they experiencing the zoo for the first time, but also theme parks (sort of). Even Sesi, the teacher's assistant for grade R, got to ride for the first time. She screamed much louder than the kids which was amusing.

At the end of the day, we all hopped on the bus and a good number of the kids were fast asleep before we left the parking lot. What a great day.