Cheeky monkeys and camel dung...

Jed turned 10 on Saturday - a truely celebratory number being double digits and all! Can't believe he's a decade already! Despite having a bit of a rough start to life (but thanks to modern medicine he's actually here!), he's always been my cuddly thoughtful boy - and truely deserving of a fun day out!

After opening his pressies on our bed, we checked who thought they were well enough to go to the zoo in Entebbe (about 1 hr away), we'd been planning the trip for weeks, but very important question to ask when half the family had been suffering from what we call 'ganda belly'! Everyone decided they were well enough to go, including Dad which was handy as he was the driver!

After stopping for an icecream breakfast on the way (Gordon birthday tradition still going strong in Africa!) we head out of Kampala - for about 20 mins, that's when we break down in the van we'd just gotten back from the mechanics that morning! Two hours later we're on the road again in a different vehicle and finally make it to the zoo!

(in case you're wondering, it's not a skirt - it's his new soccer shorts!)

 This is probably as close as you can get to being on a safari without actually being on a safari! Camels and vervet monkeys are free-range in the bush like setting, authentic camel dung on the ground and all! - the kids even got to ride them (the camels that is!). The fences are just like farm fences and except for the wild cats/lions etc, you can get up very close and personal to most animals! Not actually sure if that's a good thing or not, but none of us got eaten! Although the boys got pretty close to getting monkey bites! We got video footage of zookeepers catching a couple of crazy servals (in the enclosure) - will have to try and upload it if it came out alright - the guys cellphone rings while chasing this hissing cat round, and he just chats away as if he's sitting on his armchair at home, while he captures these cats - the kids loved it! And I just kept thinking 'oh man, this is really dangerous and this is the kind of place Drew wants to work, oh man, please let him change his mind!' Just made Drew all the more excited about working there! Apparently there's all sorts of volunteer stuff you can do there... can even go on chimpanzee rescues, yip, Drew's in his element!

Had to have a breather a few times for those with sore tummies to rest, but everyone declared it worth it when we got home and all collapsed on the couches!