Thai-gers

Today we had a day away from academic responsibilities, so we took advantage and worked in some cultural activities. Many of us were eagerly awaiting this day, since we had plans to head out to Tiger Kingdom to see some bigger versions of the cats that our group has been chasing through Thailand since the moment we arrived (we seem to have a lot of cat people with us...)

The Tiger Kingdom was our first stop of the day, so we hopped in the van and took off outside the city. We could hardly contain our excitement through breakfast and the drive.

This is truly a case where pictures are better than words, so without further ado:

Our first stop: The newborn (5 week old) Cubs:

The next stop was the 18 month old "medium size" tigers. These two were twin brother and sister.

Yes, they still have teeth, yes they are still sharp, no he wasn't upset by the keeper doing this.

It was hot, and the tigers we're sleepy since they usually are nocturnal animals, so Maria let out a few yawns.

The tigers were increadibly calm, and didn't even seem to notice when we touched them, as long as we followed the rules (no touching the paws or the head/upper back, approach only from the tail end of the tiger, never from the front, and be firm when you pet them so they know it's you, and not a bug or pest to swat away)

While there are some negative rumors and myths that surround Tiger Kingdom and other places that allowed you to get up close and personal with traditionally "dangerous" animals, we are happy to report that all is good with these tigers. They appeared well fed and healthy, didn't shy away or act scared of the keepers, had fairly large enclosures and were free to roam them as they wanted, and  they aren't forced to do anything they don't want to, or woken up if they are sleeping.  The were raised in captivity, so they are used to being around people, and could help to preserve their species as tigers are becoming increasingly more endangered.

After the tigers it was time for lunch, so we headed to a botanical garden/orchid farm for a tasty buffet lunch (it's hard to say no to fried bananas and fresh pineapple!) We spent some time looking around the grounds are the flowers and the butterfly garden.

Our little flower pins. I'm not 100% sure what they meant, but I think they were to show who was allowed to go into the buffet and get lunch.

When our bellies were full we headed off to a local Thai national Park and hiked the trail next to the 10 levels of waterfalls, with a few swim breaks thrown in for good measure as it was increadibly hot today. I didn't take any photos as I was afraid I would drop my camera into the water, much like the guy at the top who managed to drop his girlfriend's brand new iPhone into the water (Tiffany found it for him like a minute later, and apparently the newest versions are water resistant, so it might have turned out ok.) Unfortunately this means I have nothing fun here to share with you, but it does mean I still have my camera for the rest of our adventures!

We have an early start to another exciting day tomorrow, so I will leave you with my Thai word of the day. It seems most appropriate to pick tiger, which in Thai is Sooua. This is more of a phonetic spelling than anything else, but the first part sounds like "sue" and then you just add a soft A "ah" sound to the end of "sue." No need to draw anything out here like in some of our other new words.

Until tomorrow,
Amanda