Fun things in Rancagua, Chile

This lion isn't done eating.  It wants more, so it's waiting for us....

I don’t have to leave far from home (Rancagua at this time) to have a good time. There are plenty of fun things to do right here. Ahimara and I recently spent an afternoon at the Safari Park, or zoo. But it was much better than a zoo. The animals were close up behind chain link fencing, not far away behind heavy bars. They were active too. The bear went swimming and ate the leaves in the water. The only White Lion in all of South America lives here. We saw monkeys, baboons, puma, deer, turtles and little animals of all sorts. But the best thing was the lion safari!

He smells the meat by our head and is coming to get it! 

This is the truck behind us.

Ahimara and I climbed into a cage on the back of a truck. We were locked in. Meat was thrown on top of the cage. The truck was driven through a double set of locked gates and entered into the lion’s safari like home. The lion’s get excited about the smell of the meat. Next thing I know, the lion is jumping up on the hood of the truck onto the top of our cage to eat the meat that is just two inches from our head! It was so awesome! When the meat was gone from outside the cage, the lion seemed to be trying to figure out how to eat the meat inside the cage! The handler had to even throw some meat down on the ground to convince the lion to get off his truck! It was an amazing experience!

Hmmm, how do I get that meat in there?

This kind of fun stuff just happens to me. I don’t plan it. I didn’t even know about this park. I am just letting the forces of the Universe guide me to wherever they think I need to be, and on this particular day, it was with the lions.

Yeah, I'm going to take home a baby lion! 

There are lots of birds here too.

Another day we spent the day picking peaches. Cecilia’s family is in the agriculture business. We picked lots and lots of peaches! Tons of peaches! I thought carrying a real picking pouch on my chest would be a good idea so that I could collect lots of peaches; it just meant I worked harder! But oh, the experience was awesome. Just a minute, I have to go eat a peach. I will be back.

I'm still looking fresh here.  I have not begun.  These are Cecilia's siblings with me.

No one translated for me this day. I learned from my rudimentary speaking skills that this year has been a very bountiful year for peaches, apples, corn, and pears. A few days before this peach day, we picked grapes (red and green), apples (gala and granny), and pears. It was my first time to ever be under the hanging grapes. It was just so bountiful to me and I have never seen so many big, fat, juicy grapes, beautiful, sweet, soft pears, and crisp hard apples. I didn’t know I was going to pick fruit, so I didn’t have my camera along to take pictures of the grapes and apples. I usually never know where I’m going until I am actually there! I was sad for the fallen fruit on the ground, and wanted to rescue every one of them, but alas, I can’t save the entire fruit world.

I think I can see the sweat starting!

We attended a wedding one evening. Now a wedding here in Chile is a very fun event that lasts all night long. Really! It started at 9:00pm and got over at 6;30AM!! And we stayed the whole time; eating, dancing, talking, and having a great time! Yes, I even had an English speaking friend this night, so Emilia was off the hook! Did I mention I danced all night? Yeah, it was very fun. I like the weddings in Chile!

She's a lovely bride and the wedding was fabulous!

On another fun day, I toured the largest copper mine in the world! El Teniente Copper Mine is where Emilia’s father works. We also toured Sewell, the mining town where all the miners lived years ago. I actually can’t cite too many facts because, again, my tour was in Spanish. So I just took lots of pictures. I had to wear a really cool gas mask in the mine, and we were REALLY far into the mountain, and it was cold and dark in there. I saw how the copper was mined. China and Japan are the largest importers of Copper. Chile is the #1 exported of copper in the world. The copper mine tour was very cool. Enjoy my pictures of things to do in Rancagua!