Day 11

Hard to believe it's Day 11 already and that we still have four more to go before getting on a plane back home.  I'm ready to return home and begin normalcy again but I'm going to enjoy every moment here while I can.  I'm trying very hard to take in everything with all my senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and almost the most important taste. 

One thing I haven't mentioned because I keep forgetting is that coming to Guangzhou brought us huge relief temperature wise.  About a week before our arrival, a large typhoon swept through and it dramatically dropped the temps from the mid to upper 90s into the 80s.  It has rained daily off and on but the temp change has been a God send.  Not that I would ever pray for a typhoon but I selfishly am very pleased at the timing God provided for us.  Usually, going from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou would have been hotter.

I also keep forgetting to share that our Gotcha Day was also the Chinese Valentines Day.  While we were at Wal-Mart, they had a booth with Dove chocolate which we wanted to purchase for gifts to give during the adoption process.   Wal-Mart employees took pictures of us next to the booth holding the chocolate.  The booth had two large hearts and then heart balloons.  At the time, Dustin and I were like "what in the world is this all about?"  Then our guide explained that we happened to be there during the holiday.  Also, she shared with us that the Chinese traditional (lunar) calendar is different than ours.  While most Chinese use the western calendar for day to day things, the traditional calendar is what they use to determine holidays and it is directly determined by the phases of the moon.  So while it was actually Tuesday, August 13, the Chinese lunar calendar was on July 7 which happens to be their Valentines Day.  Kind of cool!

Okay, back to the present.  Today has been an excellent day.  We elected to go to Safari Park and it was incredible.  It is the largest animal park in all of China and never before have I seen such large quantities of each animal in a single location.  Way cool!  We spent the first half doing the Safari Park on wheels riding a tram through animal exhibits.  Then we got off and did the park on foot.  I know we've all been to the zoo.  Some of these pictures will be completely unimpressive only because it's hard to capture the experience.

Here's a picture review of our day:

Congee is rice porridge.  This congee had sweet potatoes.

You add fixings to your congee.  Otherwise, it has no flavor at all.  Options included peanuts, cilantro, green onion, etc.

Don't know what this is but it was available for breakfast.

This was a bit weird but I gave it a shot.

Nothing special except the spelling of dish.  LOL!

Breakfast?  Why not!  Jordy loved it.

Fun casual seating.

And now for Safari Park:

Black swans.

More swans.

You have to love the signage!

This emu wanted to say hi to our tram.

Taking it all in with dad.

Yak!  Excuse you!  No really, Yaks!

Camels are not special but they were up close and personal and there were so many.

Again, think volume.

Brown bears.

Black bears.  Excuse the poor quality.  We are in motion.

See the tram just ahead of ours.  We are truly up close and personal with the animals.  No fences here.

Lots of cute babies!

There are seriously 19 giraffes just in this area.  Beautiful!

Momma and two nursing babes of different ages.

Didn't know there were birds that sat this way.

Our guide "Becky."  So far, she has been very pleasant.

Love these purple flowers with the curly centers.

This is so for real.  Are you jealous?  You should be!!!  This is a real baby tiger cub.  So stinkin' cute!

They have a nursery full of baby cats.  Can I hear a big "Awe?"

Too cute for words.

Six month old white kangaroo.

White tigers.

This beauty is waiting for raw meat.  This zoo allows you to throw raw meat into the tigers.  

This one is waiting as well.  They have at least four different tiger species here.

Let's play a game.  Let's find the non-Asian Dustin.  Need help?  I'll give you a hint.  He's wearing orange.  LOL!

Normally, you can feed these beauties but it started to rain and we are taking shelter.  We figure we can feed them at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.  So, we aren't really missing out.

How to keep our baby dry?  Use daddy's large rain poncho.  Worked like a charm.

Check out the colors.  And boy were these things chatty.

The real adorable thing.  Love koalas!!!!

Doesn't even look real but it is.

Time to eat some eucalyptus.

One of the koalas is named Amanda!

The moment I've been waiting for all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are ten maybe fifteen feet away from this beauty.  No glass between us.  

We caught a few pandas eating and not sleeping.  So thrilled.

Just chilling.

Check out how big and neat this panda enclosure is.

All pandas pictured are different pandas.  With exception to picture of the enclosure.  There are so many pandas here.  Imagine that!  We are in China and they have lots of pandas in their zoo.

And we didn't make it long enough to see the koalas or the pandas.  Dang!!!!!

Just a few flamingos.  If you find any in this picture, you let me know.  They are hard to catch. ;)

Lupper at Lucy's.  He specifically asked for the satay which came with peanut sauce.  He ate all of it down to the lettuce minus the tomatoes.  This kid is not very picky!

And finally, we have ice cream success.  He ate the whole thing!  And notice the toy we bought while Jordy was sleeping.  Couldn't resist the panda bubble blower that makes noise.

Our hotel has a play room.  Jordy enjoyed some play time.

Somehow a few photos ended up out of order.  I'm too lazy to fix it.  This is bamboo that is at least 10 years old.  I can't get over how huge it is.

Again, completely out of order but this was my lupper at Lucy's.  Thai Chicken and Eggplant with curry over rice.

I may have over done the pictures today a teensy weensy bit but I have a hard time choosing.  Just imagine how many I left out.  Let's just say today required a SD card change.

I want to mention to all of you that are reading this blog that I'm so very grateful for your support.  We are so grateful for your support.  I've received messages on Facebook, right here on the blog, and by phone telling me how many people tune in daily to read this blog.  Thank you!  And thank you for the continued prayers. There is no way that our trip would have been so successful with out our prayer warriors.