One day Marc and I took a taxi to Tiger Kingdom which is located in the hills not far from Steve's place. The 25 minute ride up and back cost us about $15 and the driver waited over an hour for us at the park.
The park is a well organized venue. We were met at the entrance by an employee who explained our options in a very passable English. There were four choices: Spend time with a tiger cub, a small tiger, a mature tiger, or all three. We opted for the big one. The place is nicely laid out offering a veranda from which one can view the big tiger enclosure. We became acquainted with how the process worked and were thus ready to meet our beast. However, first we were made to read the rules of tiger engagement and had to sign off that the park could not be held liable if anything gruesome were to happen.
Then we entered a gated enclosure about the size of a football field where 3 full grown tigers awaited. We (Marc and I) were assigned a beautiful 1 year old female (about 7 feet tall and 500 pounds) and her 2 trainers (about 5 feet tall and 120 pounds). But, they were well armed with flimsy bamboo sticks and were prepared to use them. Happily no animals or humans were injured during our 20 minutes ( it seemed like an hour).
She had just exited from the swimming pool and was quite content to sit around or play with the trainers. Marc and I were allowed to approach her from the rear and pet her. She didn't seem to mind except once (see the picture sequence). The trainers were very careful with us and we appreciated it a great deal. It was fun but I was happy to finally be on the other side of the fence.
To see our pictures, click here.
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