Rainbow Springs Park

A bird show was scheduled for 11:30, which we didn't want to miss. The lady at the ticket counter told us we had to be quick because the seats would fill up fast. Once again, we stood in a long line, mostly with parents and children. The show started a bit late. We saw beautiful colorful birds that gave us a great performance and some that even flew directly over our heads. I have mixed feelings about it. Of course, I would have preferred to see the birds in the wild, but we certainly wouldn't have been able to get as close to them. After half an hour, the fun was over and we took a closer look at the park. At 13:30, the Kiwi Encounter took place, which I was very excited about. We waited in the entrance area with 23 other visitors until an employee from the park picked us up. A 30-minute lecture awaited us. Menno, we thought we wouldn't have to go through something like this anymore now that we're out of school! But what we understood was very interesting. The eggs from which the kiwis hatch can weigh up to 500 grams. In relation to the body size of their parents, they are the largest bird eggs in the world - they can reach up to 30 percent of the female's body weight. So it's like a woman giving birth to a three-year-old child, the employee explained. Since kiwis are nocturnal, we could only see them in a dark house. After the tour, we continued to explore the park. Besides birds, there were also some reptiles to see, and we even got to see the world through their eyes! After being fascinated by the huge trout for a long time, we met a woman who had just come out of the 'walk-in bird cage' and told us that a bird had landed on her arm. Of course, we had to check this out right away. And indeed: Bird Harold flew over to Niklas after a short time and landed on his shoulder. Unfortunately, I was a bit late with the camera and Harold was already preparing to fly away.