Today we visited Monarto Zoo, just a 20 minute drive from our caravan park in Murray Bridge. Monarto is an open range zoo associated with Adelaide Zoo, much as Werribee is associated with Melbourne Zoo in Victoria.

Main access to the viewing areas is via the Zu-loop Bus which does circuits periodically and allows visitors to get off at several stops to take advantage of viewing platforms and keeper talks at scheduled times. However there is also extensive walking tracks from the visitor centre to the viewing platforms, but of course they don't go through the animal enclosures like the bus does.

To begin our day there we rode the whole loop on the Zu-Loop Bus and a guide provided commentary on each of the animals as we passed through the enclosures. Some of the animals we saw were bison, zebra, ostrich, eland, giraffe (more on them later), rhinoceros and lions.

After the bus we walked down to the chimpanzee enclosure. Among a collection of generally quite old chips was a 'baby' who was just over 2 years old. In the photo you can see her just in front of what looks like an ant hill which a piece of grass in her hand. The ant hill is artificial and inside the holes are treats like chilli sauce, peanut butter, etc. which the chimps can sample by poking the grass stem into the hole.

After some lunch in the cafe it was time for the 2km walk down to "The Waterhole" which is where the giraffe viewing platform is located. There a keeper fed the giraffes with foliage and carrots and spoke about some of their characteristics. He reminded us giraffes have 7 vertebrae just like humans, but obviously each one is a little longer in the giraffe. Interestingly one of the giraffes is nicknamed 'kinky' because there is a deformation in one of the top vertebrae in her neck which was caused by her mother sitting on her at birth! Kinky shows no ill-effect and has gone on to be a mother herself.

Our day at Monarto was completed with an Ice Cream, however the persistent wind which we've had since crossing the SA border continues and hopefully it may abate tomorrow to make towing a little more comfortable as we leave Murray Bridge headed for Moonta Bay.