The Farm Inn, Pretoria, South Africa

After about a week after Eli's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy and being "cooped up" in the hotel, he was feeling better and wanted to get out and about. It was recommended to venture to The Farm Inn which is a hotel and conference center with a game park/reserve. Wow, we were in for a treat. We walked into the lobby/reception area and were greeted by lions and a cheetah. Fortunately, they were stuffed. No matter they were still impressive. Then we ate lunch outside under a tukul and enjoyed the beautiful landscaping. We had some visitors too........a mother hen and her chicks waddled about trying to find a small morsel of something. The 10 baby chicks were adorable and kept Sophi entertained. I was personally thinking...."what kind of place has baby chicks to stuffed lions." Quite a contrast. After lunch, we boarded an open window vehicle ready to start our "kid friendly safari/game-drive." We were excited to see various animals from warthogs ("when I was a young warthoooooog!" remember from the Lion King movie, to giraffes, hyenas, blesbuck, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, blue wildebeest, etc......thankfully the "predator" animals were behind huge electric fences. The non-predators just roamed freely not having a care in the world that a predator was lurking about behind a fence. What I liked about the lion areas was that the caged areas were huge and modeled their natural habitat. This was not a zoo cage. The lions were huge and came right up to the fence. Yikes! The Farm Inn was a great place to visit. I took a brochure. Some people have even had their wedding there. The owners have a fascinating story. http://www.farminn.co.za/ Then we went to the cheetah area. Now this story deserves a different post. Stay tuned!