Donkey What?

 Seriously. I know I've mentioned it already, but Aruba has a Donkey Sanctuary.  Who even needs one of those?!  I doubt if there is another one anywhere else in the whole wide world.  But Aruba, with all their abundance, decided a donkey sanctuary was a must.

We had seen the Donkey Sanctuary on the maps and were mildly curious what it was all about.  While scuba diving on Thursday another diver mentioned that she had been there.  We asked the very broad question, "So, what was that like?"  To which she gave a very vague answer, "Well, if you like donkey's, you'll love the donkey sanctuary!"  This had us all cracking up later.  What kind of an answer was that?!!

 Apparently as the donkeys were wandering the island freely, much like cats do here, they were being hit by cars.  They decided to round 'em all up, and let them live at the sanctuary.  You can even donate to the cause and get a super cool red T shirt to wear, to show your support.

Anyway, on our way to return the quads on Friday we passed right by the entrance.  We decided to go ahead and check it out.  Jeff asked me under his breath as we were coming in,"Now, why are we coming here again?" We just had to after all of the fuss..

As we came in the gates there were a couple of donkeys standing by each other.  We thought it was so cute how they stand like that.  We also had a very childish laugh at how easily you could tell the boys from the girls...holy moley, they were knocking their knee caps!

I also heard a donkey bray for the first time while we were there.  I've grown up hearing the sound we say donkeys make, but to actually hear them do it, that's totally another story!  What's even funnier still, is to listen to someone who has also heard it, try to imitate the sound.  It isn't pretty.  In fact when we play spoons with our friends the looser has to climb on the table and bray like a donkey.  I have a whole new appreciation for that now!

Have you ever heard that saying about how people start to look like their spouses after being married for so long.  What about their pets?  I kinda think the very kind lady at the sanctuary looks a bit like the animals she keeps.  She must really love 'em though, because how many people do you know who dream of growing up and watching donkeys at the sanctuary all day, every day?

The real fun at the Donkey Sanctuary started though when Reed and Shelley bought a bunch of carrots to feed to the donkeys.  They were swarmed!  The view from where I stood when it all started got my mind rolling with way too many plays on words.  I'll let you have your own fun with that though...

 They insisted I come help feed the donkeys, but I was a bit intimidated by these animals.  They were so much smaller than I would have imagined them to be, but still, they had such big teeth and they were kinda bossy with each other while trying to get to the carrots.  I  tried to feed the ones that had come over to eat, but were hanging back a little bit, but still it is clear I'm a bit nervous about it.

We all laughed so hard when we saw this picture Shelley had taken.  It looked like the donkey was smiling at me for feeding him!

By the time we left we'd had a good laugh, and we were glad we'd taken the detour.  But if you were to ask me, when you go to Aruba, should you visit the Donkey Sanctuary, I'd likely give you the same response my fellow diver gave.  Well, if you like donkey's, you'll love the Donkey Sanctuary!

** Just in case you're wondering, no my doctor doesn't suggest I wear a helmet when I'm out on the town, even though sometimes I'm a bit special.  What really happened was that we rode our quads there and totally forgot to take them off.  Didn't even realize it until we looked back at the pictures...special huh? On second thought, maybe I should keep the helmet eh?