Born Free Ethiopia

I packed up the kids and the truck again on Wednesday for a road trip picnic with a bunch of other moms.  This time a visit to Born  Free Ethiopia was the plan.  Born Free is located about 30 km outside of the city (passed the Bethel Women's Center were we went to on Monday).  It took about an hour and a half to drive , mostly due to the traffic in Addis before you can reach the open road.

Born Free is a non-profit animal sanctuary that rehabilitates orphaned animals and provides lifetime care for older or dangerous animals that cannot be released back into the wild.

Once again a big caravan left the city, which meant there were an impressive amount of mothers and their children (ranging from newborn to five years old) that met up for a hike through the sanctuary and picnic lunch.

I strapped Ashlynn to my back and lathered the girls in sunscreen. Our new spf beach hats are the best $40 I've spent on Amazon of late.  The older two girls walked and hiked through the sanctuary from one fenced animal area to another without a single complaint.  It was a miracle and I am very proud of them.  We saw huge tortoises, baby cheetahs, lions, baboons, and monkeys.  Bella exclaimed that the turtles were "awesome" and was very nervous that the lions would "roar".  Addie trekked along with her little friend Avery.  The sun was out and it was a pretty serious work out with Ashlynn on my back.

Everyone was rewarded at the end of the tour with a huge tree shaded picnic area and our individual coolers full of lunch.  Everyone ate and the kids played.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and once again it felt wonderful to breath in the fresh air and get out of the city.