Phnom Penh - Wildlife Refuge

Day 3 in Phnom Penh was AWESOME. We signed up for a jeep tour to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, about an hour and half outside the city. There were about 10 folks on the tour, 6 of us rode in the back of the jeep and the other 4 had the luxury of an air conditioned Camry. Trust me, we preferred the Jeep. We like keeping it real. :)

 This refuge is wonderful rescue agency for abused animals that people try to make pets or capture to eat or sell on the black market. It's terrible to think how much animals can suffer because of human ignorance. But, these cirtters are living the life at this refuge and we were able to see that first hand.

We all met at a Cafe to begin the trip. We definitely took advantage of the French press coffee. I originally asked for an iced coffee but their ice hadn't been delivered yet, LOL. It actually came right before we left. A truck pulled up and a giant chunk of ice was taken from the trunk and given to the cafe owner to grind up himself. Hilarious! And kind of unsanitary if I think too much about it...

Sculptures at the entrance to the refuge.

 

 

 

We were able to be hands on with a lot of the animals.

 

We bought sweet potatoes and sugar cane to feed to the critters.

This is an albino deer!

This guy (a Lesser Adjutant, a type of stork) actually got perturbed with us and we had to move away quickly so as not to get into a brawl, LOL

This gibbon LOVES our guide, Ms Vathana, and hadn't seen her in a few weeks so he was very lovey toward her.

We weren't supposed to use flash because it upsets the animals, but I accidentally took a picture with flash and this little guy gave me the worst stink eye... glad I didn't start something.

 

This is a Silvered Lagur. Apparently he had a harem of girls in the back but they remained shy while he came forward to eat the sweet potatoes we had.

These are Leopard cats... sorry the picture is blurry but they were the size of, if not smaller, than house cats! So folks get the wrong idea that they can domesticate them, but they do not make good pets. They're beautiful though, absolutely beautiful.

The jeep

Ms Vathana made us a TON of food. This is just one of about 5 dishes she made. Delicious curries!

We sat on these tables and ate family style.

The dishes... glad we didn't have to clean up!

A banner with some of the Cambodian sodas - interesting flavors

Within the grounds of the refuge, we all crammed in the jeep to get around. Joel and Italian John hung on to the back

A sun bear! We learned so much about how these poor critters are abused (and eaten!) so we were really happy to see how well cared for and happy they are at the refuge.

Getting cozy :)

Don't they have the cutest faces?!

Joel's new pal

We were a matter of feet away from tigers. They are graceful, beautiful and frightening. They definitely have a presence and when one roared at us, I literally jumped back a few feet. You gotta take these guys seriously!

Here he looks cute and relaxed, but you gotta always be wary.

We had SO much fun feeding and petting Lucky the elephant. She was very friendly and completely spoiled by all the sugar cane she gets from guests!

Lucky taking a walk with her trainer

Joel throwing food at some of the other elephants... these ones aren't as trustworthy out on the loose with visitors. The refuge has had Lucky since she was a baby, so she was more human friendly.

One of the employees daughters. What a cutie!!

We had a wonderful, educational tour at the wildlife refuge and are so grateful for the experience! We met some fascinating folks from all over the globe and enjoyed every minute of the trip. A big shout out to Lauren and Kali! :)