We went to Entebbe Zoo yesterday, to make the most of the last weekend of the Christmas break, get Zach out of the flat and also satisfy his earnest desire to meet a crocodile, which came on suddenly after he saw BBC hero Steve Backshall hanging out with one in Deadly Pole to Pole. What a brilliant place. I already knew that you can get a bit closer to these wild creatures than you are able to in UK zoos. It started well with a £2 camel ride. I'd like to race across the dunes on one now, as sitting on it was high and a bit precarious, and felt rather exotic. I'd imagine if it was running instead of walking, it would certainly put hairs on your chest. Plus, have you seen one? They are crazy animals. They have these thoughtful, amiable and faintly ridiculous countenances, and they saunter along, on feet that are sort of soft and squodgy - not hard likes horse's hoof. I stood staring at it for a good long while, just enjoying its unfamiliarity. I think it might now be my preferred form of transport. The next euphoric moment was the discovery that there was a giraffe right at the viewing platform, and what's more, it was waiting to be fed, and what's even more, a man had carrots and leaves that were available to non zoo keepers like the Temples to feed said giraffe. Giraffes are beautiful. I was so excited to be right next to one. We learned that carrots are better supper than leaves; it was a bit choosy about whose offerings it was willing to take, to Zach's slight disappointment, as you have to get in close to give it a carrot, and his bravery faltered slightly. I hung around after other folks had left, trying to get some good photos of it. The keeper enquirer if I would like the giraffe to kiss me, to which obviously the only reply is YES. He gave me a carrot, which I proffered with my mouth, and indeed, the giraffe gently snaffled it with its snaking tongue, and only slightly slobbered on me. Probably wrong for all sorts of reasons to do with over contact with humans etc but MAN it was great. Our final "Should we be this close to a wild animal? Get out of my way I want to pet it first!" type moment was that a keeper was walking an orphan baby elephant around the site for some exercise, and clusters of visitors cooed over it. We got near to inspect it as it munched on bushes and Jude, in my arms, was mildly perturbed as its curious trunk gave him a cursory inspection, over shoulders, head and ears, before concluding he wasn't a leaf and returning to its lunch. My observation is that elephant trunk feels surpringly bristly, rather like a bottle brush. The thing I felt aware of, being so physically near these animals, was how amazing it feels to be close to them. How my curiosity and fleeting infatuation leads me to want to get RIGHT near them so as to encounter them intimately. As I say, this is doubtless a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons, and clearly I learned nothing from being chased off by a warthog at Lake Mburo. Nonetheless, in a sort of Dr Doolittle fashion, I adored my close encounters with these incredibly interesting creatures. Yes, Zach saw crocodiles. No, we did NOT get up close and feed them carrots with our mouths. Back to work tomorrow...
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