Oh Jabali

Jabali is the baby elephant.  And he acts exactly like a little kid.  He can't just walk anywhere, he just has to run.  And he's always looking for attention from the adults.  The older elephants just laze around, slowly walking or drinking or whatever.  And then Jabali comes in and runs underneath them or rubs up against their sides or something.

Well, the awesome thing about today is that I got to hold right by Jabali and the other elephants.  Not only that, but I was running an empty round.  So there were no guests on my truck, I didn't have to spiel or entertain anybody, and there were no other trucks within sight of me where I stopped.  I just got to sit there, listening to the ducks and watching the elephants play.  Or mainly, Jabali annoy the adults.  He's also a climber, just like a little kid, seriously.  There's the watering hole, and there's a way for the elephants to just walk down to the water's edge to get a drink.

Jabali walked around and tried to get attention from the elephant that was doing that, and when he failed he left her and walked over to the only part of the bank where there's a kind of cliff that goes into the water.  And then he kind of slid down backwards on his stomach.  So.  Stinking.  Adorable.

And the whole time I was just thinking how much I love my job!  I got to sit there for several minutes before we were back on the move.  Even then I pushed it a little bit longer and stayed all the way until I saw the next truck.  So great!

On another note, I signed up for Rosetta Stone today.  Apparently I have free access to Rosetta Stone.  But you have to be put on a 3-4 month waiting list and I've never worked here for long enough before to join the list.  But, since now I'm planning on staying through next year, I went ahead and signed up today!  I can't wait!  Hopefully I'll get to start sometime in January.  They also told me that when I do get access, I'll have full access to every single language Rosetta Stone puts out.  I seriously can't even WAIT!

And my final awesome story of the day... After my last safari, a 12 year old boy came to the front of the truck to talk to me.  I often get guests, typically adults that come to the front asking me extra questions (was that rhino really real?) or wanting to take my picture.  Sometimes a concerned little girl will come up who's worried about the lions eating the addax.  But today, it was this boy who excitedly told me, "That was the best safari ever!  And I would know!  I've been on three today!"

He has no idea how good that made me feel.  I mean, really.  It's hard to impress a 12 year old boy.  That comment alone totally made my day!  I seriously do appreciate compliments from guests.

Especially since just yesterday I had a kid the same age who spent the whole safari behind me saying things like, "It's not really a two week safari... it's way shorter!" and "I don't think that lion's real!  If he's really real, make him move!" or "That wasn't really scary!  I knew that was going to happen!"

But really, I always appreciate compliments.  And I'm sure my other drivers would agree with me as well.  They never get old!  And just to clarify, I like my safari, but it is in no way the best.

What a great day!