Preparation Day Continued - Hanging out with the animals

As pat of our Preparation Day Activities at Flight of the Gibbon (see previous post) we visited the Khao Khiaw (Green Hill) Zoo.  There were lots of animals to see and many you could feed.  Quite a bit different than zoos at home where you have no contact with the animals. During the Zoo tour we were in a open sided large golf cart. Our Van driver doubled as our tour guide for the Zoo.

Our Driver and Van that brought us from our Condo in Bangkok

 

Flamingo - wow those are long spindly legs!

Colorful Igauna



Yes your are welcome to feed the deer

Hippo waiting to be fed

Binturong - sometimes called a Bear Cat

Elder Moleff watching Sister Moleff getting up close and personal with her camera and the Giraffe

Watch that tongue strip those leaves - Yes they will sell you items to feed the animals

Pride of White Lions

Sister Meeker admiring the Rhino - Or is it the other way around?

Elder Moleff assisting in the feeding of corn on the cob to the Rhino

Sister Meeker feeding Sugar Cane to the Elephants one piece for each of the three

Preparation Day Swinging in the Trees

Sister Meeker and I invited two other Missionary Couples (Seppis and Moleffs) to go with us on P-day.  We had the Flight of the Gibbon Van pick us up at 6 AM at our Condo on Saturday.  It was just over an hour drive to the Base Camp where we signed waivers and verified payment.  We were then transported to the trail head where we walked about 100 yards thru the forest to get to the starting point. We suited up with harnesses and helmets.  We then trekked into the forest to the first platform. 

Look at the smile on her face - priceless

Yes that small platform over my shoulder is where we are headed

"Zen" hooking us up for a ride

It is a long way to the ground - Yes I am still hooked up to the safety line - No hand rails here

Longest run of the day - for us light weights the Sky Ranger comes out to meet us to make sure we get to the platform



Good ride - ignore the last part of the video - we thought we had turned the video off

Just before arriving at the base of the spiral staircase that wound around the first tree platform, Sister Meeker leaned down and picked up a leaf with a small creature on it.  It was the size of a small caterpillar standing on end trying to attach to a passing animal.  As soon as Sister Meeker showed it to our Sky Ranger he said it was a leech.  I thought he said the wrong English word - thinking he meant caterpillar.  But he had us check our ankles and legs.  I pulled up my jeans and low and behold I had a leech sucking my blood.  The sky ranger pulled it off - yes I was bleeding, he applied disinfection spray and a band-aid.  No Pain just weird. 







Our Sky Rangers: Zen nd Waan

Our Sky Rangers were named Zen (Translated means Line) and Waan (Sweet).  They were with us the entire 1-1/2 hours that we were up in the air.  There were 22 separate platforms most were connected by single Zip lines.  One had a double line (honeymoon line) where Lois and I launched together side by side. There were also two short suspension bridges.  We were on average over 100 feet in the air for most of the time.  We repelled down from platforms twice - since we were lowered they actually call it abseiling.

The Honey Moon Line - I got in at least 3 kisses during the trip