Way Back Whens-day: Safari Park

Last week I blogged about our trip to a drive through animal park in this area. I started remembering the trip we took in July 2006 to another animal park, the Fuji Safari Park (near Mt. Fuji, Japan). Perfect for a Way Back Whens-day! This was the first real road trip we had taken in Japan. We had lived there almost a year at that time but had mostly done our exploring on foot or by train. But with trusty maps in hand, we loaded up our car and drove to the Marine Camp Fuji to stay in their very cheap billeting (lodging). When we got there, we realized why it was so cheap- it was beyond bare bones, you had to listen to sounds from the firing range at all hours, and oh yeah, there were no blinds on the windows. Fortunately then 2 year old Abbey was easily amused...

She loved having a pizza picnic on the floor.

(Side story: Our first evening there, we had to get out of that room, and decided to go to a family onsen that someone had recommended. Their recommendation was stronger than their directions. It was dark, it was raining and we got completely and totally lost. As in, all the sudden we found ourselves driving down a little road, surrounded by fields. There were no street lights, and when we went ten minutes without encountering a vending machine, I thought we were going to die out there and never be seen again. Eventually we stumbled on a garage where a Japanese mechanic tried to give us directions, realized we spoke no useful Japanese, then took pity on us and had us follow his car back to the main road. I think most Americans who have lived in Japan have a story like this! Okay, back to the safari park.)

So here we are getting ready to go into the Safari Park two weeks ago:

And three years ago:

Isn't she so stinking cute?

Some things don't change. The best part of a place like this is riding out of your car seat!

We saw so many animals at Fuji Safari Park. I don't know if it was safe to be driving so close but it was awesome.

Yes, those are lions. Lots of lions.

And elephants!!!

I love giraffes because they are quiet.

So you can see why I was a little disappointed in our recent safari park trip- lots of deer-like animals, an obnoxious ostrich and some zebras are just not the same. But at least we didn't get lost!