Camping at Pretoria Zoo
31st August 2008
by Pam Harvey
 Camping at Pretoria Zoo was extremely popular and more than fifty campers pitched their tents in the camping site, which was in the middle of the children’s part of the zoo where there are horses, calves, goats, geese, ducks, chickens, etc. As soon as everyone arrived at the camping ground they got stuck in and for the next hour were extremely busy erecting tents, hammering in pegs, blowing up mattresses. There was a lot to do, but everyone was organised and ready in good time for the night tour.
The tour was great and we had two excellent guides. No torches were allowed, but the guide had a big spotlight with a battery pack on his belt. We stopped at the animals close to camp like the rhino, elephant, giraffe and then we walked up the hill, stopping on the way to look at the seals and hippos. At the top of the hill we visited the tiger and lion enclosures. We also saw two cheetahs and it was fascinating to hear the cheetah meow like a cat. We saw the African hunting dogs, which made strange low noises but the hyena were quiet. However, the guide assured us we would hear plenty of calls during the night.
 What was really interesting was the number of unusual animals we saw, like the Okapi, Bongo and Maned Wolf. The Okapi had white and black striped legs and we thought it must be related to the zebra, but it is a relative of the giraffe. Like the giraffe it has a very long tongue, which it uses to grip and pull leaves off the trees. In fact the tongue is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears!The Okapi is from the Equatorial Rain Forests of Africa. Another animal from the same habitat was the Bongo, which is similar in appearance to Nyala. Its coat is a beautiful chestnut colour and it has stripes on its back. When walking through the dense vegetation it tilts its chin up and its horns lie flat on its back.
The Maned Wolf lives in grasslands in South America. It has large ears and its fur is reddish brown. It has very long legs, which enables it to run down its quarry. It looks like a fox on stilts! It was cold, especially when we were walking by the river, so by the time we got back to camp some of the children were feeling cold and tired. The zoo staff had the fires ready for a braai, which was a welcoming sight and we all gathered in a big lapa where there were tables and chairs. Everyone enjoyed a good supper and for dessert marshmallows were toasted.
Most people were in bed by ten o’clock, snuggled into sleeping bags with hot water bottles. Listening to the Lions roaring and the Wild Dogs barking was quite exciting, but the geese made a terrible racket and then about 4. 00 a. m. the cock started crowing and didn’t shut up for the next two hours!
We’d all thoroughly enjoyed the experience of spending the night in the zoo and most were in no hurry to leave. After packing their vehicles a lovely time was then spent exploring other parts of the zoo, including the restaurant for breakfast.
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