The car rolled onto the dirt road in Hlawga National Park. There were lots of monkeys, but our friend, Su, said that the monkeys were nice. We joked that they were Buddhist monkeys. We saw some deer later. The deer were very docile. On one side of the road, the deer were slowly strolling away from us, back into the forest. Then, on the other side of the road, another deer appeared at the edge of the woods. She grabbed a leaf with her long, sticky tongue. She pulled it off, and ate it. Then she did the same with many other leaves. Soon we reached a small clearing on a small hill. Lots of monkeys and a few deer were there. Right next to the hill was a flat ring with only one small tree in the middle. Behind the tree, two bucks, one older and one younger, lined up, as if they were about to fight. They held the poses for a little while, but eventually, the younger one, the challenger, backed off. He walked very slowly into the forest, like he was still making his mind up. One he disappeared into the trees, the older one followed him, at the same pace. Then, in the small ditch between the hill and the ring, a little deer with fuzzy antlers was sighted. My mom immediately went over to photograph it. I strolled over to her and the deer. On the side of my path was an adult monkey. As I started strolling, the monkey charged at me! Full of fear, I dashed back to dad. The monkey didn’t mess with me. Later, I was barely a foot from Dad. The monkey charged down the tree at me, and I got behind dad. The monkey did not attack. That monkey really had a problem with me!

We got in the car and reached a small lake. We walked halfway around it, then rested at the pavilion. Soon, a large group of young women wanted my picture. It was okay with me, but I did not like it. They did different poses and group members, and I was just a rag doll. It was a mess.

Later, we drove to a field. It was behind a chain link fence, so we could still see the wildlife without getting killed. The place was swarming with monkeys! We were about to get out, but then a monkey was threatening to attack Su! Su threw the big bundle of grass in her hands at the monkey, and we drove off.

Later, we came across the hippo enclosure. The hippo immediately ran up to the wall. We took some food, and it opened its mouth. We found this funny. We threw the food in the hippo’s mouth, and when we ran out, the hippo closed its eyes and its mouth, and it appeared to be meditating. Its chin was resting on the wall, and Loring, our other friend, told us that this was because its head was too heavy to lift without support. Then, when the food came, the hippo sprang to life, ready to be fed again and again.

A long bridge

Feeding a Deer

Feeding an Elephant

Goofy Deer