Our legs were getting restless so we decided to hop in the car and take a trip back to Beppu this weekend. I have yet to meet anyone here in Japan who doesn't like Beppu. It's a beautiful town right on the water (like most towns here!) with little neighborhoods nestled into the steep, lush hillsides. We checked out the Monkey Preserve back in July and decided to check out the African Safari park this past weekend.
For you visual folks I thought I'd include a map of our island, Kyushu. I'm not too savvy on image apps with fancy arrow tools but I found a map (excuse the danish) that shows where we live (Sasebo) and where Beppu is. It's in the northeast in case you're wondering:
It takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive to Beppu from Sasebo. After all the speed limit is a speedy 50mph but the mountain scenery is just gorgeous so we don't mind the distance. One of the coolest things about African Safari is that the majority of the park must be seen by vehicle. You can either catch the bus or drive yourself. Friends recommended we drive ourselves so we did. Each enclosure is gated so you must proceed through a lock style barrier to visit each enclosure. After all we wouldn't want the lions mingling with the giraffes 24/7, things might otherwise get interesting and population numbers might dwindle.
As you can see, the animals have an all you can eat buffet when the busses come through. They're not shy.
Mr. Bedhead is too stuffed to move out of the road.
I've been to Africa but don't remember this type of buffalo being there. However they seemed to be very happy and even cross roads just like they do in Yellowstone!
Since we were going a wild 2mph with constant picture stops we let Elin ride in the front seat with me so she could see better (and prevent her from rolling down her window). But just for the record folks, we would never otherwise let her do this. Ultimately she seemed to have more fun playing with the A/C and CD player than checking out her favorite animals. Yay Elin.
After the safari we checked out some lion cubs. Elin and this little boy had a wonderful discussion in Japanese-Toddlerese on the anatomy of a baby lion...and perhaps how to let it escape. :)
Just about any attraction in Japan has an ice cream stand. They LOVE ice cream here. Elin thinks it is borderline child cruelty to deny her a visit to the "isseeem" stand. She also managed to talk her dad into letting her eat an entire cone. This child will go far in life.
Since ice cream generally puts kids in a good mood, we stopped in the tiny town of Yufuin just west of Beppu for some sightseeing. It's a gorgeous little town tucked in the hills with an array of lovely restaurants, inns and hot springs. We decided to take in some shopping and found some wonderful local honey and pastries to take home.
We passed a small ramen restaurant and got to view a demonstration of handmade noodle making. Fascinating!
Our trip concluded with a walk around a small lake. We checked out the fish, a small cookout (with fish of course) and an enthusiastic family photo. Did I get big or what??
Elin joined another family photo and did her best to master the peace sign. For now she can imitate Dr. Spock quite well.
Matane!
Caitlyn
