Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Aileen had read many reviews on the Out of Africa Wildlife park where people raved it was a must see while in Sedona.  So on Thursday we took the 30 min drive west to have a look.  We knew we should spend about 5 hours there in order to see all the shows and exhibits so we arrived there around 10:00am.  The great thing about the day is the park was not busy so we had easy access to everything and great seats on the tour shuttles.  Since seats were empty, we could easily switch from one side of the shuttle to the other to get better views and pictures of the animals.

We took a lot of up close pictures of reptiles and animals but I'll just show a few.  I think this park is quite popular since you can get up close to the animals.  I know when we visited the San Diego zoo many years ago, it was difficult to see or experience very much.  T

When we entered the line up area to get on the Safari Tour shuttle, they handed us each a stick of celery to feed the giraffe or camel we will meet.  As Aileen and I were waiting for other passengers to get on the shuttle, we noticed a women walk on chewing on the celery!  I guess she was hungry.  When the tour guide explained during her introduction that the celery was to feed the animals, the women was incredibly embarrassed.  It was a good laugh.

Aileen saved her celery for the giraffe!

Gerome the giraffe sticking his head in

Nice picture Aileen took of the giraffe against the sky

They will only let us feed the giraffes and camels as their technique in receiving the celery never involves teeth.  Unless you are familiar with feeding animals, your fingers could be mistaken for celery and be bitten off.  In the case of the giraffe, their tongues are long and work like our fingers.   So they actually wrap their tongue around the celery and pull it into their mouths.

The park would like to get a female mate for their giraffe but a female giraffe is worth more than $100,000.  To expensive for the park as it is privately owned.  A male is worth $35,000.  Why?  It is because females are the producers of baby giraffes.  The male part of the process can be Fed Ex'd from anywhere in the world...

You probably already know that the cheetah is the fastest land animal.  Cheetahs can reach a speed of 70 mph but can only sustain it for 10 or 12 seconds.  The Ostrich can run 55 mph for an incredible 30 minutes!  Apparently their brain is only about half the size of their eye ball so when they are getting chased by a Cheetah, after a few minutes they forget what they were running away from!

However, if you look at an ostrich's feet, they remind you of a raptor dinosaur's claws.  An ostrich can jump several feet high, kick out, and disembowel a large cat!

Ostriches also have no teeth.  So, they have an organ called a gizzard where they pick up and store 15lbs of rocks in.  The digestion process uses the rocks to grind the food.  The rocks are later passed.  I guess that's what chickens do as well since they have gizzards.

Ostrich

Ostrich's raptor-like feet.  Very dangerous!

Here is an African crested porcupine.  They are a little different than North American porcupines in that the African crested porcupines quills are solid and bladed where as the North American porcupine quills are hollow and barbed.  The African porcupines quills can pierce bone!  The porcupine runs backwards and sideways to attack their victim.  The quills themselves do not kill their victim but instead the quills oily nature attracts bacteria, dissolves in the skin, which infects and kills the victim.

African crested porcupine,  This porcupine is 17 years old.

Here are some watusi cattle.  They carry the heaviest horns in the animal kingdom and their width can get as wide as a telephone pole.  They can be up to 8 feet in length.

This is an addax, a type of antelope.  These were hunted not for their meat but for their spiral horns.  Due to over hunting, they are extremely rare in the wild.

Addax

Below is an Asian water buffalo.  An interesting thing about this creature is if you eat pizza in the US, you have probably eaten this animal's milk.  Since an Asian water buffalo's milk has higher fat content and is creamier, many producers use it to make Mozzarella cheese.

Asian water buffalo

Close up encounter with a Bengal tiger.

We had a lot of alone time with the tigers as their were few people around.  This one for some reason leaped at the fence at us.  Freaked Aileen out...

Another close up.  

We had a great day at the park.  I am quickly writing this blog this morning as it is our last day in Sedona.  We took a many, many, photos but I only included ones I remembered tid bits of information about.  We are going to head back to Phoenix and have lunch with Liam.  Then head back home.

Spiritual Sedona

Sedona has a world wide reputation for its spiritual energy.  This energy has attracted a large community of intuitives, guides, healers, and artists to the area.  Many visitors come here for spiritual and personal enrichment of their body and the soul.  I must admit, Sedona has a calming vibe to it.

Sedona is also known for its vortexes. Scientifically, a vortex is the funnel shape created by a whirling fluid or by the motion of spiraling energy.  Examples of vortex shapes are whirlwinds, tornadoes, and water going down a drain. A vortex can be made up of anything that flows, such as wind, water, or electricity.

The vortexes in Sedona are swirling centers of subtle energy coming out from the surface of the earth. There are four main energy vortexes in Sedona.  All of Sedona is in a vortex and the energy can be felt up to 300 miles away.  Of course it is strongest at the vortex itself. Some can feel vortexes.  Most cannot.  I did not feel anything myself unless I drink a beer.  Then I feel the vortex.  Apparently you can identify areas where the vortex is strong since the Juniper trees grow in a spiral pattern indicating the spin of the vortex.  We saw this on a tour!  Our tour guide thought perhaps it was the iron content in the rock and the iron content in our blood that interacted to make people sense an energy vortex.  Who knows?

For more information on spiritual Sedona and vortexes, click here.

If you want vortex information.  Stop here!

Aileen and I visited the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park.  It is located right within Sedona.  You travel through some upscale neighborhood streets, pull into a small parking lot, walk up the hill, and arrive at the stupa.  This stupa gets its name from Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light,

There are many descriptions for what a stupa represents but it seems it is a sacred Buddhist structure that represents Buddha's body and is the path to enlightenment.  They are filled with prayers, intentions, Buddha relics, and other sacred objects. Within the Amitabha Stupa there is a relic from Buddha Shakyamuni.  I think that means there are remains or bones of the Buddha in the stupa.  Stupas are very common in the East but not very common in the West.

For some excellent information on the Amitabha Stupa, click here.

The sign suggests walking around the stupa 3 times while making personal wishes as well as prayers for the suffering in the world.  Aileen and I both walked around the stupa wishing the best for Liam at school, our family and friends, and to eliminate suffering in the world.  I found the walk very peaceful!

For a video of us walking the path to the stupa, click here.

The Amitabha stupa.  It is 36 feet tall.

The Amitabha Stupa

I thought I'd spend some time sitting with Buddha.

As well as the Buddhist stupa, Aileen and I visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It has an interesting history as well. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic chapel built into one of the cliffs surrounding Sedona. It was inspired and commissioned by a local rancher and sculptor, Marguerite Brunswig Staude.  In 1932 Marguerite was inspired by the newly constructed Empire State Building and therefore wanted to build the church. She originally wanted to build the church in Budapest, Hungary (not sure what the connection to Hungary is here) but it was aborted due to the outbreak of World War II. She decided to build the church locally here in Sedona.

When Marguerite began searching for a site to build the church, she looked for "signs" to help her find a location.  She finally settled on a location where she saw 3 rock formations that resembled two nuns and the Mother Mary with child.  In addition, Marguerite's parents were involved in the pharmacy business and she saw a white "Rx" symbol on one of the rocks.  This symbol was probably left as a cattle brand by previous ranchers many years ago.  The chapel was built right above it.

The two nuns on the right and Mother Mary with child on the left

View of church on the cliff.  You can see the two nuns and Mary on the right.  I had to borrow this picture from the Internet as I didn't have a photo taken from this angle.

A view from the chapel

Another view from the chapel

 Aileen lit a couple candles.  I am thinking Aileen just likes to play with fire and doesn't really care about the candles.  It was nice to see they weren't commercialized and charge an arm and a leg for a candle.  Only a dollar each!  I think Mexico was 5 or 10 dollars...

A look inside the chapel

This house is located below the chapel.  There is a lot of speculation on who owns it from Johnny Depp to Nick Cage.  However, our tour guide said it is owned by a Romanian doctor who invented lasik vision!

Another day ended with an IPA from Chandler, AZ!

Oh, before I go here is something random.  While in Phoenix at the local Safeway, they have covered parking that generates electricity for households!  The sun is brutal on cars.  I commented to Aileen that many cars have sun burn.  Oxidized patches of paint on hoods and roofs.  If you ever want to test products for sun resistance, this is the place to do it.  Where plug ins for block heaters are coveted in Saskatchewan parking lots, covered parking is coveted in Arizona!

Sedona has some very strict rules for businesses.  They must all blend in with the natural surroundings.  McDonald's wanted to open a restaurant but Sedona council said no yellow signs.  McDonalds didn't like that and waited it out for a year before they came back and suggested blue arches with no large signage out front.  It is the only McDonalds in the world without yellow arches!

Notice there is no indication that this is a McDonalds.  Just the logo.

Tlaquepaque Art Village

Our resort is located approximately 4 km outside Sedona.  It is a small self contained community and very peaceful here.  Each unit is separate with a deck.  Aileen calls our place the "little caboose".  They are long and narrow resembling the layout of a trailer.  The front part is the living room and the back is the bedroom with a double bed (small when you are used to a Queen).  The middle is the kitchen (with stove, fridge, dishwasher, and large convection oven microwave) and bathroom area.  They are quite cozy.  We debated whether we could live in one of these when we down size.  It would take getting used to!  You would need to be efficient in how you use the space.  Aileen and I took turns being in the kitchen!  She let me use it to clean everything up.

The units are well stocked with everything you would need in a home.  Along with the regular stuff, some things were unexpected - iron and ironing board, toilet plunger, fly swatter, mixing bowls, mixer, flashlight, casserole dish, juice jug, laundry basket.  They seem to have thought of everything.  I used the fly swatter to get rid of some moths Aileen let in.

I started the morning with this home made breakfast.  Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and coffee.  Delicious!  Yes, I know.  The presentation could be a bit better.  I screwed up the eggs a little...  They were supposed to be over easy but it is not easy to do over easy!

Here is me working on the blog!  You get to see a bit of our unit's living room as well.  Aileen is standing in the kitchen taking this picture.  Go Leafs Go!  That shirt is about 25 years old that my Mom gave me.

Blogging at the kitchen table

After breakfast Aileen and I visited the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village (Pronounced tuh-la-kuh-pah-kee). It was built in the 1970's by a Nevada businessman (Abe Miller) but when you walk around the village, it seemed much older (perhaps 100 years old).  Abe's dream was to create a village in Sedona reflecting the flavor, sights and sounds of Old Mexico.  

For more detailed information on the history of Tlaquepaque, click here.

A view of Tlaquepaque village

Below is a small chapel within the village where small wedding ceromonies can be held.  The seating capacity is 30 people but another 15 chairs can be added at the back.  The mural at the back is interesting.

Chapel at Tlaquepaque

Close up of mural.

Mural close up

I met an old friend at Tlaquepaque. Great to see you again Sam. I was in the area so I thought I'd drop by. Good job on the writing. Interesting stories.

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) just people watching

For a video of us walking through Tlaquepaque click here. It might give you a little sense of what it was like!

Later we enjoyed some ice cream while viewing the mountains.  Sedona is surrounded by mountains and cliffs of red rock with very interesting shapes and structures.  The red is due to a high iron oxide content in the rocks.

I had one scoop of excellent coffee ice cream.

Mmmmmmm

It was a slow day but it ended well with this Odell IPA from Fort Collins, Colorado!

Ahhhhhhh