Blue Hills Ranch

While I wanted to love this experience, I just didn't. When we arrived, we went inside the office/home and were immediately hit in the face with the overpowering smell of urine and feces. I have pets, I'm aware of how they smell. Well leave them in your house for a month+ without any attendance. It's that level of smell. They keep some lemur type critter in a cage in the house right when you walk in and I believe all the otters (there are many) in the back rooms. I assumed it was this critter creating the smell, but after finding out the otters live in the house, it was likely them. I have no idea how anyone could work in there with that smell - it was that nauseating. That can't be healthy for anyone, including the animals. My friend had to exit immediately due to the smell and was greeted by 2-3 very large Saint Bernard's. I'm sure everyone who is visiting is an animal lover, so just beware. Once they were ready, we were led out back to the outdoor (thank God - fresh air!) enclosure. The woman was nice and provided lots of information about the otters. She educated us on how to interact with the otters and all the do's and don't's. The otters are... well.. wild. They can and will BITE - especially the one with the underbite. She gave us all food and ice to feed to the otters. We only saw one pod of them and I guess another was back in the house. It's A LOT of otters. She obviously spends a lot of time with the otters and knew them and their personalities well and could direct you and them to best keep everyone (mostly) safe. Well, until that one bit my thumb - hard! I felt that for days. They also have a thing for shoes, so don't wear anything you're fond of as you'll exit with a plethora of puncture marks in your footwear. In my observation, the otters don't seem to crave human attention. They're there because you have food and ice, but once that is gone, so are the otters. The otters do seem to love their caretaker and are likely as tame as they are due to her dedication to them, but man are they a handful! Rambunctious, biting toddlers with ADHD. Very cute, kinda painful, pretty expensive for what it is. I am glad I came and saw before spending the big bucks to stay the night. We were very ok with not spending the night.

I’ve made traveling the world a priority in my life. I’ve now traveled all the continents in the world and all the United States. I’ve been fortunate to have stayed at unique lodges, ranches and experience many different types of animals along the way. I currently live in CA but traveled to visit my son at Baylor University. I’m always looking for something special to experience and photograph as I’m a pro photographer. Blue Hills Ranch exceeded my expectations. EVERYTHING was carefully designed to cater to their guests needs. The food was excellent, the owner and staff gave me a VIP experience & worked around my schedule. They really care about their guests and the animals at the sanctuary. I booked the full experience and did it all! Swimming with otters was definitely a highlight but truly the whole experience was one of my favorites. Who would have thought you could bottle feed a baby kangaroo 🦘 right here in Texas. I just flew to Australia and spent time with Kangaroos but nothing like this. I loved visiting with Giraffes and exploring the beautiful ranch. Weather you are visiting Baylor, Waco, passing through town or travel across the country/countries I highly recommend staying and experiencing Blue Hills Ranch. I was fortunate to have had a special tour of the new Giraffe 🦒 villa too~ probably one of the most amazing villas I’ve seen. Check it out~ you won’t want to leave. :)