An African Safari Experience in Texas
G L E N R O S E, Texas, Oct. 14 -- The sun is low in the cloudless sky,bathing our safari vehicle with beautiful, warm light. The air ishot and dry. We are at a standstill, whispering among ourselvesabout the giraffes that are slowly and gracefully approaching.
Photographers raise their cameras. Click, click, click. Theanimals move closer. Our guide tells us not to make any loud noisesor sudden moves. After all, he says, these are wild creatures.
Our vehicle holds 10 people beaming with excitement. Smiles areeverywhere, especially on my wife Susan's face.
Now an adult giraffe is only a few feet away. The tall animalleans down in slow motion and comes face to face with my12-year-old son, Marco. He holds out his hand, which is filled withfeed that we bought at safari headquarters before our adventurebegan. The giraffe takes a few nibbles. With his other hand, Marcopets the animal's face. I photograph the scene, wondering if Marcorealizes, at his young age, how lucky he is to be here.
My family and I were not on an African safari. Instead, we weretaking a guided tour at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a 1,400-acreformer wild game ranch that's just an hour south of Dallas. Buthaving been to Africa three times myself, I can say that the centeroffers an experience that, at times, feels like an authenticAfrican safari — especially when you come upon a small herd ofzebra or wildebeest, or an ostrich runs by, or you spot severalwhite rhinos resting in the shade.
After the giraffe had its fill, we continued on our tour,passing and photographing gemsbok gazelle and exotic-lookingantelopes like sable with their curved horns, greater kudu withtheir corkscrew antlers, and waterbuck, with their dramatic whitemarkings.
Halfway through the two-hour tour, we reached the park'sintensive management area, where animals on the endangered specieslist are cared for. The center has a breeding program to helppreserve endangered animals, especially cheetahs — the animals Iwas most interested in photographing.
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