Cat Haven
Hike Review
Cat Haven is a feline-only zoo that offers a guided tour experience, which means no freedom to roam, but one gets to get much closer to the cats than what would usually be allowed at normal zoos.
In terms of facilities, the place reminds me of caverns in California which also offer a guided-only experience. There is a gift shop where there are trinkets, drinks, and a place to buy tickets for the tour.
The cats were as active and friendly as last time we were here—basically the tiger is the most active and stunning, coming up right next to the fence. Most of the other cats were just lazying about and most were difficult to see clearly.
The girls were engaged for a few of the cats, but by the end of the 90 min tour, they were tired and not-so-excited.
The tour guide was knowledgable and kept a good pace throughout the tour. My only fault with the tour was that there was a loud generator that made it hard to hear him (pretty impossible, really) for around 20 minutes.
The tour is on a double track dirt road that was mostly flat.
Friends
The Saitos (Ryo, Seri, Luna, and Mona) joined us. I think they had a fine time, but by the end were itching to get back to the lake.
What Happened?
We drove out of the campground to try to regain communication with the Prives family, who ended up coming the morning after the Saitos and we got to the campsite. We couldn’t contact them even at the visitor center, so we decided to move on to Cat Haven, which the girls were excited about.
We arrived right at lunch time, so Ryo and I put together sandwiches we had packed while Seri and the girls found tables outside the gift shop. We finished our lunch almost exactly as the tour was about to start—what lucky timing!
The tour was a bit long for the girls and it had gotten warm, so after the tour, we all ended up getting sweets (coke for Ryo and I, ice cream for everyone else) and drove back to the campsite to link up with the Prives family.