A Day Around Hartbeespoort Dam

The kids and I have been having so much fun, little adventures streaming forth from such a beautiful place. We have had so many great opportunities, and have been able to spend time with some of the people we love the most.

One of those people is Miss Elzabe, I have known her for a super long time, and she is one of my favorite people. With one of the biggest hearts, and most creatives souls, I am so lucky have her in my life. We spend a couple of days this past week with her, just having fun.

We went to the Hartbeespoort Zoo & Snake Park. I have never been, and it was quiet impressive.

We love going to the zoo or any animal park for that matter (I know it is controversial) but we enjoy it, seeing animals we might not ever see, and even learning some things we didn't know.

This park had such an impressive snake collection - I am not super fond about snakes and use to have working in the reptile section at the zoo, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of snakes here. It is super well kept, clean, and the snake were gorgeous (if a snake can be classified as beautiful.) We loved being able to visibly see most of the snakes, discussing the different colors, patterns, and whether they are venomous or not.

We could see all the snakes up close and personal - they were phenomenal.

Apparently this is the only known specimen in the world. An albino spitting cobra.

The kids loved the section with the giant snakes....

There was a pretty awesome selection of reptiles in general - Ian is a big fan of this kind of stuff.

The zoo is located right on the dam, and it is such a gorgeous and serene setting. We loved just wandering around (it was super busy) and we had sections all too ourselves.

One of our favorites were the family of chimpanzees. We literally watched them for almost an hour, as family drama erupted and the commotion they made. It was insane. But the babies - oh my word - were super duper adorable.

It turned out be a fabulous little gem, that we have never visited before, and I was so impressed. The grounds were beautiful as well, and we seriously had such a fun time.

After our morning at the zoo, we took a little trip around the area, and we went to show the kids were Nate and I got married ten years ago. I can't believe it - it still looks as beautiful as the day we got married. The kids loved it so much, asking questions, and oohing and aahing about the cutest little chapel and the stable where we had the reception.

I have this same picture of me and Nate, 10 years ago <3

Bonus points! The resident zebra that crashed out wedding photo shoot showed up again - the kids loved it and thought it was the coolest thing ever. So thank you to this zebra for making me look super duper cool.