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Safari park at Givskud, Århus

Teije had a lot of wild plans for today, like driving from the north to the south of Denmark and subsequently from east to west, visiting all towns and villages, but, happily, somebody was able to talk him out of it. So we make a quiet day of this last really holiday-day. The sun is trying to shine through the clouds, and sometimes succeeds, but it stays sultry: a bit warm, but cloudy.

Our main goal today is the safari park at Givskud. The entrance fee is 'only' a 100 crowns, € 14 each, a relief after the expensiveness of Norway! From the camping we first drive to Billund and we pass Legoland, the destination of a lot of people, considering the traffic. But we want to be in the middle of wild animals, like the red panda, also called the lesser panda.

Part of the park can be seen from the car, like a real safari, but there are also many footpaths from which the less dangerous animals can be visited. Elisabeth loves monkeys, so we spend quite some time looking at the chimps, gorilla's and baboons, our genetic brothers.

The most dangerous animal of all, human, had to stay in the car with the windows closed, to have a look at the lions. From the driving behaviour of the tourists one can tell the aggressive nature of this species, while this lioness eats her meat, indifferently.

Unconscious of the time, four hours have passed before we leave. This park is surely worth its money, and for the first time in weeks we have a real hot meal. It's affordable here.

From Givskud we drive to Jelling to have a look at the famous runes-stone which has been placed there in 980 by king Harald Bluetooth. There are also two tombhills, of king Gorm the Old and queen Thyra.

At the end of the day we drive to Århus, the second city of Denmark. We take a walk to the relatively small centre of the town but after a short time we return to the campsite.

When we pass a bankbuilding we see the longest name of a website we have ever seen. We tried it out, and it linked to the normal site of the Nordea bank. Want to try it? (in the beginning of 2002 the link didn't work anymore...)
www.jomeredusamlerhososdestobilligerebliverdet.dk.

On the way back to the camping we first went to Himmelbjærget, one of the the highest 'mountains' in Denmark (147 meters high). Driving southwards we find an amazing landscape with steep hills and small roads which were not on our map. Some author (the fairy-tale writer H.C. Andersen) once compared this landscape with the Black Woods in Germany and Scotland. Well, we have been at both places and, however nice it is, the comparision is wrong, or only partly right for just a few square kilometers. But it has been a wonderful and quiet day to conclude our holiday.

Travel through Europe and Africa

with Elisabeth and Teije