The Grade 6s loved their visit to the Addo Wildlife Sanctuary. Many had never seen so many wild animals so up close and personal. The girls were welcomed by Maddy, the three-legged Vervet monkey. Maddy loves attention and that’s exactly what she got, and loads of it! She is  tame and the girls had fun feeding her, playing with her and taking photographss.

Next they got to see the ‘Three Musketeers’ . They are Vinny, the Fennec Fox, Milly the three-legged grey mongoose and Zuki the Meercat. These three were very entertaining as they ran up and down the cage loving all the attention. They girls enjoyed feeding them fruit and giving them belly rubs. From there things tensed up as Miss Inggs, the guide, took out the rock monitor, Toothless, for everyone to touch. Most of the girls were eager to feel what his skin felt like but a few stayed in the background, intimidated by his size and his sharp nails.

The owls were popular as the girls learnt how special they are. The girls were fascinated by the way they turn their heads and the size of their beautiful round eyes. The two meercats, Minion and Jasmine, were very popular. The crocodiles were next and they were very intimidating. The two caracal, Kerry and Nitro came really close to the fence and they were able to see them up close, noting their black tuffs of fur on the tips of their ears.  The girls were privileged to see the African Wildcats Olive and Arthur with their two day old baby kitten, Ava. Ava managed to survive while another kitten did not.

The highlight of the day was when the girls were able to handle and take pictures with a gecko, skink and snakes. They started off with the smallest leopard gecko, Victor, who everybody was happy to touch and hold. Then it was the blue tongued skink, Louise. He was much bigger and was fascinating to watch with his blue tongue. The snakes were definitely the most popular. The girls had an option to touch or hold the snakes at their own choice. We started with the smallest, the red and black corn snake. Then we had the two albino black rat snakes, Peaches and Cream, whom the girls adored! Lastly was the 3kg Burmese Python, Carley who spent a lot of time around the girl’s necks. By the end of the encounter the girls were very pleased to have spent some time with some of the most interesting of creatures. Many of them overcoming their fears.

During the lunch break, the girls bought some curios, played with the baby guinea pigs and Maddy the monkey ran around stealing pieces of bread and biscuits and she enjoyed sipping on some sweet drinks.

Thanks to the teachers, Mrs Woods, Miss Panayiotou, Miss Johnson, Mrs Swanepoel and Miss Potgieter for transporting the girls safely!