Day 33 | San Antonio
This morning we visited the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch for a drive-around safari. This is just out of town but before we went we seriously must get the windscreen clean after the dust and dirt the journey so far, the weather is clear, we should do our bit. We picked up some bags of food on the way in and we were advised not to hand feed the animals (at least they're all herbivores here) but toss the food to the pavement and interact that way, fair enough.
Straight into the park and encountered some pretty shy deer and wildebeest and then came these gemsbok (serious research here) that slowly came to get right in the window, eyeing up the bags. Later there was buffalo and even kangaroo and emus (also ostriches). Any pretence of tossing food on the pavement. The zebra were possibly the keenest behind the emu to fight us for the food. Completing the round was the petting zoo which treated us to several varieties of goats languishing in the warm sun.
Back into town to the famous Alamo, site of a brave and unsupported resolve to create a Texas settlement independent of Mexico. There is a maintained compound and buildings restored or remaining in similar condition to the 1830s. They couldn’t hold out and so it is a solemn memorial to them. Texans all consider this to be their origin story and another instance of Washington not helping.
Afterwards we were admiring the horses and took a carriage ride through the traffic. The driver Jessie introduced Belle the horse and we took off for a tour of the downtown historic area. He was entertaining and informative about the area but we were also curious about the horses. They have a couple of stables in town for their down time and enjoy the light work of dragging tourists around the flat streets. We were accompanied by a couple from Tennessee who agreed that Belle was a big horse even for us tourists.
Afterwards we went down the Riverwalk, a canal / river below street level and took the boat ride around the area. The boat was full as were all of them and our captain provided a history lesson while we took in the view. The vibe is very fun and busy.
We had dinner at Casa Rios one of the oldest restaurants down at the river. It was busy but the food was good and Michael, our server did a great job of keeping us sorted having to cross the busy walkway.
Highlights
Rosie | Curious zebra
Angus | The tasteful Alamo
