Lost

Today at work I reunited a worried mother with her lost baby. 

Kaya reaching for a snack.

During the "deluxe" tour we wandered into the South Africa exhibit and found Kaya hanging out with an unrelated rhino and her son. Later on we heard Kaya grunting for her mom, Golpara, and saw her searching the fields. Baby rhinos are almost the most adorable things on Earth, and seeing one lost and grunting for her mommy was too cute. 

Kaya eventually found her older sister, Asha, and was happier and stopped grunting. But then we happened upon a very worried Golpara. She grunted non-stop and slobbered all over the place, looking in the back of the truck and finding nothing but guests, then peeking in the cab. If you've never sat behind the wheel with a worried rhino poking her horn through the open window you don't know what you're missing. 

So we decided to help. I had to back the truck up a winding road (using just the side mirrors), but by the time I did Golpara had ambled off to continue her search. My trainer and the guide called out to her and her ears perked back: Golpara ran back to us and I drove towards Kaya and Asha. Golpara never stopped grunting and almost literally ran in circles around the truck. Rhinos are very light on their feet and look and sound like ballerinas.

The grunting finally stopped when Golpara caught sight of her baby. But Kaya, though she was lost and crying less than 30 minutes earlier, ran from her mom as if afraid of punishment. Pretty damn adorable. 

So that was my day. How was yours?