Meet the Exotics!

A stroppy iguana, beautiful blue butterflies, very chatty parrots and inquisitive Meerkats were just a few of the creatures we encountered on our trip to the butterfly farm. As soon as we arrived, we had a lovely surprise of meeting a robin and Mr. and Mrs. Blackbird.  As these are wild birds we wondered why they were so tame and didn’t fly away. The keeper revealed that she feed them frequently she stretched out her hand and it was great to see the robin fly up and perched on the keeper’s hand to eat his mealy worm.

When we were traveling on the mini bus staff and clients were in general agreement that they weren’t fond of exotic animals and planned to miss the 12.30pm exotics show.  However, our timing wasn’t very good we happened to enter the tropical green house when the exotic show began.  What a surprise this was! 

We walked straight into the exotic keeper who was carrying a king python.  Kay immediately was up for the challenge of holding the snake, followed by a competitive Wendy who was inspired by Kay.  Both were pleasantly surprised by the leather feel of the snake’s skin and the power you could feel in its muscles.

The two clients who came with us had a wonderful time feeding the nanny goat’s kids.  Their antics brought smiles to all our faces.  The kid’s affection and enthusiasm for life really touched both men’s hearts. 

One of the clients who is rough sleeping said this experience made him feel normal again and momentarily made him forget about the harshness of his life.  We found what he said very touching.  It made us think that in day to day living we can forget that the small things in life can often be the most moving and remind people that there is still wonder and beauty in the world.