In The Company Of Animals…The 4 Legged Variety

As this was Peggy’s last official day in San Francisco, it was Peggy’s choice what she would like to do today.

We rented a car and drove an hour north to Santa Rosa. That’s wine country (located past Sonoma and Napa) to most people, but for us, that meant an honest to goodness wildlife safari and The Peanuts Museum. That’s right, we visited the Charles M. Schulz Museum. There was even a Snoopy labyrinth on the grounds.

I was never a hard-core Charlie brown fan, but I did have a soft spot for Linus. I think it was because of the security blanket he carried around. I still have my security blanket from when I was a little girl. My mom brought it with her when she emigrated to Canada in the 70s, that is, before I snatched it and laid claim to it. It’s pink, soft, has a crocheted flower on it and falling apart and patched up from the ba-jillion washings and generally dragging it around with me on every apartment move I made. It’s still the blankie I wrap myself in whenever I’m feeling blue or sick; one of the possessions that I would grab if escaping a house fire.

Peggy and I took some corny pictures with statues of the Peanuts gang and generally made goofballs out of ourselves. Why, there in the courtyard outside of the cafe, with statues of Snoopy and Woodstock, there was a sign saying you could call a loved one and tell them to log on to the website’s webcam and see us live, right then and there.

So Peggy texted Alfred to log on and see if he could see us at the bench with snoopy and he texted back, “I see you”. WELL, that was our cue to just jump up and down, throwing air kisses and waving madly at the camera that was mounted on the exterior of the building. Nerd times two.

Overall, a good experience, worth the $8 admission although the fun part was the statues outdoors, rather than the exhibitions inside.

So on we continued to Safari West about 1/2 hour away from the musuem. Nestled on 400 acres, Safari West is home to fennec foxes, cheetahs, lemurs, addaxs, water buffalos, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, ostriches, vultures, wildebeests and 80 more species of animals; some coming from as far as Kenya.

The rugged safari trucks are open aired 1950s army trucks that were used in the Korean war, highly capable of roughing it up and down the terrain. About a dozen people can ride on one jeep, including the top seating bench (rooftop seating basically).

Being the vampire out of all my friends, I elected to sit at the bench inside the cab, by the back wheels. One of the tour guide gave me that little tip – that was the best seating inside the jeep, as you can feel every bump, rumble, hill, stream and ditch. I had no interest joining Peggy on the rooftop seating for the next 2.5 hours, the scorching sun beating down on me. I think i’ve filled more than my quota for getting some colour for the rest of the year.

My favourite part of the safari tour? Getting up close and personal with the giraffes. They were so sociable and inquisitive, coming right up to the left side of our trucks where I was sitting.

A couple of the giraffes poked their heads in the cab right where I sat so that I was literally, nose to nose and centimetres away from their faces, as well as, gently gnawing on roll bar of the truck and licking the seatbelts on the rooftop benches (Peggy was the target of much licking on her back). I think giraffes are absolutely beautiful animals, with those long eyelashes.

Driving through grassland and forest similar to Africa, this “Sonoma Serengeti” is a great way to re-connect with nature. It’s not so much a zoo than an exotic adventure, with the focus of this park to help preserve the many endangered species in their natural habitat. If you not going to go to Africa any time soon, this is a great alternative if you’re looking for a safari experience at this splendidly cared-for animal sanctuary.

We drove back to the city and had dinner at Bambuddha, since we didn’t get a chance the other night. I got the drunken noodles with stir-fried prawns, which were spicy wok-tossed rice noodles with chiles, onions, oyster sauce and Thai basil, while Peggy got the same but with chicken. It was surprisingly tasty and a great way to wrap up our all too short girl’s getaway.